The Far Side of Mars
by ITalkToSky
Summary: What if the answer to Gensokyo's continuation is just like Lunarians, escaping Earth? Unknown to Theldesian, their world was designed meticulously to ensure the perpetuity of supernatural beings. Yet, it is not so easy to use an entire world, so similar yet so different from the one they are used to...as the vanguard will soon find out.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival 1

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Welcome to the new crossover project between Touhou and Log Horizon. This is simply a side project to prevent me from burning myself out with Mahouka. Don't worry, Mahouka is not being abandoned. I will bring you a few chapters out first just to gauge the reaction.

If anyone is wondered about timeline, I made the timeline for Touhou and Log Horizon the same to avoid some confusion like my first story. I am probably going to regret that later because my knowledge about the most recent bulk Touhou sweet lore is quite anemic. But I am making the leap of faith anyway.

Elder Tale expansion happened on May 3, 2018, the same date as when Touhou folks transferred in. This is after Antinomy of Common Flowers (ACF) and a few months before Violet Detector. In term of print work, it was a few months before the conclusion Wild and Horned Hermit.

In this game, any human main characters will be more advance in age. Case in point, Marisa will be 23 years old in this story. According to the official timeline, Embodiment of Scarlet Devil happened in universe in 2003. I will just say Marisa solved the Scarlet Mist Incident at the age of 8, she will still be in her early twenties by ACF.

You can see that we have a lot of lore that I might not make full use or miss due to sheer volume.

00000

Nobody understood the true origin of mana. Whether it preceded humanity or humanity created mana, no one agreed on a definite answer. Yet, it was clear that mana existed in the early days of humanity. Armed with intelligence and self-awareness, early human lacked both strength and knowledge. It was only natural that they had fears, of unknown terrors, of fickle gods, of the end.

Ironically, it was these fear that gave birth to supernatural being. Mana was a fundamental power, operating with its own rule but capable of bending reality to a degree. As a sapient species, human had stronger pull on the power of mana. In a sense, it was possible that human belief tugged slightly at the fabric of reality itself. But that would be giving human too much credit. It was only due to their sheer numbers like millions of raindrops forming an ocean. Nevertheless, it was human belief that gave birth to supernatural entities, actualizing their existences onto the canvas called reality. For thousands of years, the human and their indirect creation existed in tenuous balance.

Belief was a fickle thing. Just as it could bring imagination to reality, it also was perfectly capable of expunging the creation back to oblivion. As the world became increasingly scientific, beings that were created and subsisted purely through belief and fear like Gods and Youkais fell by the wayside, literally driven out of existence. Even the mana was annihilating itself, since the people believed that they did not exist, prompting them to respond.

Facing with waning power and extinction, many tried to shut themselves off in their little world, like a pocket of resistance against the current of changing eras. Gensokyo was one such bastions of fantastical beings. Like a Youkai reservation, the residents were shielded from the encroachment of common sense by the Great Hakurei Barrier. But as powerful as the sages of Gensokyo and the first Hakurei Miko were, even they could not fully anticipate the passage of time.

Human's march of progress continued to grow faster, pressuring the magical side of earth to the limit. Maintaining and repairing the barrier would cost more and more, while the total mana and magical resources on Earth dwindled by the years. The denizens of Gensokyo could no longer afford playing catch-up. They needed a permanent way out.

Yet, something like that could only be described as a miracle.

Certainly, they needed a miracle of creation.

And there was one species uniquely suited for the role.

* * *

Beside the gigantic lake covered by thick mist all year round stood a western style mansion, constructed of dull red bricks. Its walkways were paved with stone slabs, polished to grayish sheen, and flanked with beautiful flower beds, trees and miniature maze. Beyond the garden and fountain stood the mansion proper. Taller than most buildings in Gensokyo, not even including the clocktower, the mansion emitted a commanding and foreboding atmosphere, especially when shrouded by the mist. However, for the inhabitant, the mansion was truly the most comfortable home they could have asked for. With all the amenities they could ask for and good company, a century could pass by in a blink of an eye. Yet, like all things in creation, idyllic lifestyle marked by a few exciting incidents had to end someday. And that day was now.

In preparation, a new annex was added to the mansion. Rather than a proper annex, the perimeter wall was simply busted down and rebuilt to accommodate a moderate size greenhouse. Including the expansion and renovation of the underground dungeons into warehouses stocked with as much materials they could hoard in half-a-year, the residents were ready for a trip that would take them far away from their stomping ground. They did everything they could, and all they had to do was wait.

"So, it has started," said a young girl bared her excitable grin. Her crimson eyes twinkled in the flickering candlelight. Her small frame was dwarfed by the comparatively large back rest and concealed almost entirely by the table. To most, she would appear like a doll-like little girl with pale bluish hair. Yet, her vertical pupil gave away her inhuman nature. Remilia Scarlet was a vampire, the mistress and the namesake of Scarlet Devil Mansion. The vampire wanted to see how elaborate the handiwork of the most powerful gods could be. They best not disappointed her as Remilia intended fully to get her investment back along with ample profit.

Sitting demurely on the luxurious couches, Remilia crossed her legs and nursed her tea, waiting among her trusted servants, friends and comrades. Sakuya never left their cups empty, dutifully refilling their drinks from the few pots she brought on the trolley. Cladded in blue maid outfit reaching down to her knees with cute white apron, her silver-hair was braided neatly with small bows. An epitome of elegance, Izayoi Sakuya maintained her poise in every moment, worthy of the Chief Maid title.

Seated next to Remilia was a man who could pass as Sakuya's brother if not for his blatant Caucasian features. His long silver hair stopped a little above his mid back, tied into a simple ponytail, leaving a few bangs on the side. Like Sakuya, his eyes were also blue but a few shades brighter. Yet, that was where the similarities ended. Lunaire's eyes were a peculiar pair, appearing not as one solid color. Depending on the viewing angle, a hint of purple could be seen, shimmering prismatically in the light.

Lunaire Vivian Meister, a new resident Youkai magician of Scarlet Devil Mansion, stared at the ripple in his teacup, almost in trance. Tuning out the disturbance and honing his focus, he waited patiently for the appointed time.

Patchouli, not the one to fancy idle conversation, dug into her couch and buried her nose in her thick grimoire. Her voluminous dark purple hair draped over her favorite lilac nightgown. Covering her head was a mob cap, decorated with silk ribbons and crescent moon icon. The chatter did little to pull her focus out of her work. Unless the sky fell, or maybe if even the sky fell, Patchouli could easily continue reading without a care in the world. Of course, those who knew her well would know that the resident magician and librarian occasionally made moves of her own accord when something intrigued her.

Talking about the chatter, three girls derived comfort from their genial talks. Textile, tea and magic mushroom, their conversation flowed from one topic to another, only scratching the surface of each. Their mind wandered, keeping themselves occupied and trying not to think about uncertain times ahead.

On one side, sporting shorter hair was Alice Margatroid, a seven-colored puppeteer and a Youkai magician. Little adorable dolls frolicked idlily around Alice as if they had minds of their own. They looked harmless but anyone who had ever fought Alice could attest to their danger, packing various pointy instruments and sometimes explosives for the poor bastard in their way. Typically, Alice resided in her house, deep in the magic forest. Considering their extraordinary circumstance, the puppeteer moved all her belongings to Scarlet Devil Mansion, settling in for the long haul.

Another blonde, Kirisame Marisa, was in the same situation. This girl in stereotypical western witch outfit draped languidly on the couch, not giving the impression of a human magician capable of carving swath of destruction into the terrain of Gensokyo. The Ordinary Magician was nothing if not extraordinary.

The most boisterous girl of the three was the one in checkered Kimono. Her animate red eyes, normally radiating excitement and cheerfulness, darted from side to side, appearing restless. Soft chime could be heard from the bell adorning her twin-tails whenever she shook her head. After a tireless effort to convince the girl to temporarily part with her collection, Motoori Kosuzu reluctantly agreed to join their mission. Lunaire almost gave up at one point from her stubbornness, but persevered, knowing that her unique expertise could certainly be used in the future.

Curled up on the seat opposite of the three was a rabbit. Unlike one would expect, this rabbit was not covered from head to toe with fuzzy, cuddly fur. Sipping her tea quietly, the girl appeared normal. Only the floppy long ears poking through her hair gave out her true nature. Not a normal rabbit either, Reisen Undongein Inaba was the famed moon rabbit and an apprentice slash pet to the one and only Yagokoro Eirin. Dispatched by her master, the moon rabbit came to assist in their endeavor. Eirin and her princess had vested interest in the continual existence of Gensokyo, so it was hardly a surprised. Although the fact that Eirin sent her apprentice to uncertain ground that she dared not tread herself made Lunaire pity Reisen somewhat.

Last but not least was a little girl, sporting bright blue hair and eyes. Dressed in matching hiker outfit and green cap, the girl's youthful air combined into an adorable package. Next to her seat was a gigantic green backpack, marking her as a member of Kappa youkai. Kawashiro Nitori was not a simple Kappa but served as the supervisor for the Kappa workers on site, for what that was worth.

Kappa were known equally for the fickleness and their savant affinity for technology. The residents of the mansion surely needed the latter, not so much the former. Unfortunately, beggar couldn't be chooser. They already had magicians in spade, so a supplement of natural engineer was required to patch a hole in their roster. The Kappa were the best Gensokyo had to offer on that front, as long as one could grab their attention. Lunaire and Marisa agreed that if not for their cripplingly short attention span, Gensokyo could have reached space age already, spitting in Lunarians' faces in the process. But that was neither here nor there.

"Here it comes," Lunaire braced in his seat, feeling unknown sensation washed over the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Unconsciously, his small hand clenched onto the hand rest in a death grip. If he possessed the unholy strength like Remilia, he would have gotten a vicious crack and a handful of splinters.

The chatter died down instantly. Even Kappa that was not known for her magical prowess detected the change. Her sky-blue eyes darted around alarmingly, trying spot every minute change in the room. She felt a breeze ruffling her hair. During daytime, most windows in the mansion were shut tight, covered by the thick curtain, so the wind was highly unnatural.

Before Nitori could pursue the thought further, the next moment made her regret opening her eyes so widely. As if the sun appeared in the room, her vision blinded and colored pure white. The rest, as unprepared as Nitori, fared little better, grunted from the stunning flash.

A clank, everyone heard clearly. Yet, none find their bearing and composure to address the issue, busy tiding through the strange sensation that intensified in their guts. To Lunaire, it felt like seasickness, altitude sickness and hangover all bundled up into a single disgusting package. Holding onto his breakfast took most of his effort and he reckoned the rest felt the same.

At last, the sensation subsided and the first among them opened their eyes hesitantly. The crimson curtain unperturbed, the furniture untouched, nothing appeared to change at all. Lunaire sighed, relieved that nothing too outlandish happened to them. Each still had two arms, two legs, a torso and a head. The fact that all of them curled back into their seats not flailing about helped.

Sakuya, knowing that her mistress was safe and sound, directed her glare at the offending porcelain shards on the ground. Nitori, who was the slowest to notice the disturbance did not place her cup on the table, shattered the precious teacup. The silver-haired maid smiled and Lunaire gulped nervously. While her bangs obscured her full expression, Lunaire knew that the smile did not reach her eyes. When Sakuya rolled out a tea set, she expected them to return intact and did not take to kindly to someone breaking them, even by accident. Lunaire wouldn't volunteer himself to face her ire for the Kappa, ten times out of ten.

Then again, letting Sakuya turn the Kappa into pincushion was counterproductive. Lunaire snapped his finger, naturally activating the mending spell. Exquisite as they may be, the cups were not magical artifacts, so the simple mending spell would suffice. As if the time reversed itself, the shards flew together, glowing gently as the cracks sealed together. On top of that, cleaning magic returned that the crimson carpet to pristine condition. Not the faintest stain remained.

"Argh," Lunaire grunted and clenched his teeth as his temple throbbed, turning himself into the center of attention.

"Lunaire," Remilia called his named worriedly.

Lunaire raised his hands, placating his friends. The throbbing subsided to a manageable level and his gears started turning properly once more. Unless he made a colossal screwup out of the simplest of spells, there was no way the headache came from a misfire. Also, Lunaire had never heard that a mending or cleaning spell could misfire like that. At most, it would ruin the items beyond repair. More likely than not, the spell would simply fizzle out.

No malicious interference either, his friends surrounded him. They would be jumping around if that were the case, making it unlikely to be an attack. Lunaire looked inwardly and felt something nostalgic about such pain. A spark of recognition appeared in his bluish eyes. Lunaire life could not be considered long, only in his thirties chronologically, but he could hardly remember the sensation caused by mana deprivation. After becoming a Youkai magician, mana was never in short supply unless in the direst of situation when he had to squeeze out every ounce of his being just to live. Such situation was virtually nonexistent in the peaceful backdrop of Gensokyo, so he did not recognize it immediately.

Then again, that brought even bigger question. How in god's green earth did a youkai magician run out of steam from a mending spell?

"Are you alright," Alice asked worriedly, barely audible among the ruckus from Nitori finally realizing that she shattered something.

"No, I am not very used to being seasick," Lunaire evaded the question, hopeful that the mention of sea would distract them. It was not as if he could admit running out of mana just to fix up common items. That would be so humiliating, comparable to wetting his bed at his age.

Lunaire glanced at the restored cup on the floor and sighed. At least they turned out alright. Not risking casting anything in such condition, Lunaire bent down to retrieve them manually, trying to appear natural.

He wondered whether the transfer drained their power, because it could partially explain their disorienting nausea. At this thought, he closed his eyes and gauged his mana vessel, finding the tank alarmingly empty and hollow.

"Hmm," Lunaire blinked.

It was still there, so he blinked again.

Okay, now this was bad, Lunaire thought. Since Sakuya was the one preparing the drink, there was little chance that it was the magic mushroom tea from that time. Marisa sat quite a distance from the trolley and had little chance to slip anything in. So, why was he hallucinating?

The gaze directed at him grew more and more concerned as his eyes seemed to wander in and out of focus.

Rather than focusing on his friends, Lunaire paid more attention on the mysterious black plates hovering in front of him.

Lunaire glanced around to his compatriots, noticing that their eyes only focused on them. They did not notice any mana movement, indication of magic spells, nor could they see these black translucent plates. If there was no mana flow, how could the strange clearly magical projection maintain itself, he wondered.

Appearing in the center of his vision, no matter where he turned his head, was a large hexagonal plate, depicting a cute stylized staff. Haphazardly to the corners of the central plate were different banners or maybe labels. Skills, equipment, quests, items, friend list…Lunaire understood the meanings, but could not fathom the reason that it appeared in front of him.

He glanced up to the largest panel on the upper right. Almost like a passport or identification card, his surprisingly clear photograph was displayed prominently along with his name. Scanning down the lists, Lunaire mused quietly.

Race, human…It would be more accurate to label Lunaire as a Youkai magician. After using abandon food magic among a few others, a human magician ascended to the rank Youkai magician, gaining longer lifespan and no longer required sustenance. Yet, in a way, the information was arguably correct because Youkai magician was simply a transformed human. Apart from their lifespan and obscene magical power, they were as close to a simple as any youkai could be.

Reading the next line, Youjutsu-shi or the one who uses Youjutsu, Lunaire craned his neck and frowned. Youjutsu translated literally in Japanese to Youkai techniques, a catch-all term for the abilities used by Youkai or exhibiting unnatural property like Youkai. The title was dubbed as Sorcerer, which caused a scowl deeper from the magician. Lunaire believed that the term Majutsu-shi, magician, described him much better.

Below the grossly inaccurate title were two bars, green and purplish blue. The number above green bar showed 120/120, while the purplish bar under displayed 10/207. Just what was HP and MP, Lunaire felt the urge to tear at his hair. The more he read, the more incomprehensible it seemed to him.

Lunaire was not going to touch the blank sections called guild affiliation and party at this point. Either his sanity or his friend's patience, one of it would give out first.

"Lunaire!"

Apparently, it was the latter. He felt his body shook, feeling the firm grip on his shoulders. His eyes focused on the blonde before him while the weird plates faded away as if on que.

"Oh, Alice, I," Lunaire squirmed in her grip, unsure how to answer without appearing insane. Lunaire tried moving his shoulders, but Alice soft hands hid surprising level of strength, firmly resisting.

"You look really confuse, ze. Tell us what is eating you," Marisa chimed in from the side.

"I am quite confused. It is not everyday I see these huge…panels in front of me," Lunaire chuckled bitterly. For whatever reason, the transfer was unkind to him, hopefully him alone.

"That doesn't sound good," Reisen watched Lunaire critically, like a doctor examining her patient.

Reisen noted previously that while Lunaire's eyes appeared unfocused, they retained clarity. His mind was clear and sharp, simply directing his attention at something they could not see. The rabbit sniffed cutely, smelling no medicinal scent around, tentatively ruling out poisoning.

"Can you describe it to me?" Alice watched him closely. Her olive-green eyes shimmered in the dimly lit room.

"I," Lunaire started making gestures, pointing to the area in front of him. "I saw a large hexagon in front of me and different labels with strange things like quests and friend list on it…"

He trailed off, concentrating on the image he saw in his mind. As if responding to his thought, the earlier panels shimmered into existence. Very strange, he thought.

"I have a feeling for a while now, but you finally went off the deep end," Remilia bared her toothy grin. Her voice went up a pitch. Kosuzu giggled.

Hearing the mockery in her tone, Lunaire chuckled derisively and rolled his eyes in response. He felt the hands leaving his shoulders and moved up to his face, drawing his attention back to Alice.

"Hmm, do you mind if I examine you a little?" Alice inquired.

"Please do," Lunaire sighed, "this thing is creeping me out as well."

Alice muttered her spell under her breath, followed closely by a wave of mana intruding on his body. Lunaire relaxed and let her spell washed through him, once, twice and then thrice.

"Hmm, Alice, even I will feel self-conscious if you keep holding my cheeks like that." Lunaire smiled wryly, sparring a glance from his attempt to decipher the purpose an origin of these strange objects.

Alice withdrew her hands while shaking her head. "I cannot find anything wrong with you, apart from abysmally low mana. What happen?"

As a magician, they should be the one most aware of the mana level in their body, so Alice inquired such.

"I think that the transfer siphon off the majority of my mana," Lunaire explained. At the same time, he activated his mana sense with little drop of energy he had left. "I believe it is not just me as well."

Remilia's chaotic and predatory crimson aura remained, but the magnitude was dampened significantly. He doubted that even the new blood would sport such a weak signature. It was the same for everyone else. Their aura maintained the same impression he had in his memory, but much weaker, flickering slightly like candlelight.

"Now that you mentioned it," Marisa, someone who constantly pumped her Hakkero with power, quickly felt the atrophy in her mana store.

"Interesting, most interesting," Patchouli mumbled before inquiring, "you mention seeing these shapes and writings yes, something about friend list?"

Rather than waiting for a response, Patchouli jumped in her seat a little. Her lilac eyes widened and blinked repeatedly. Her dainty hands rubbed her eyes, reddening them slightly, but the strange sight in front of her persisted.

"I think…I see what you are talking about," Patchouli deadpanned, her voice filled with surprise and curiosity.

"What, you see it too?" Marisa snapped her neck to the bookworm.

"Um, just a little bit different," Patchouli mumbled, almost to herself. "Drag in the name to add them to your friend list."

Patchouli also saw the large staff image, but another board appeared on top of it, titled friend list. The bookworm simply read the instruction on the plate out loud. Moving her focus back to the occupant in the room, Patchouli blinked again, feeling the world grow less and less logical.

Everyone in her line of sight now sported a small sign near their head. Marisa-adventurer, Patchouli read the one closest to her. The sign was accompanied with a bright green bar, which purpose she could not determine. Following her curiosity, she reached out toward the sign, wondering whether this was the "name" referred in the instruction.

The bookworm felt a feedback as if her soft fingertips pressed firmly again a glass pane. The girl dragged the Marisa's sign, feeling satisfied when it moved with her hand. Letting the sign go above the black plate with the instruction, Marisa name quickly appeared in the list with a label called pending.

"Wah!" Marisa jumped, hearing a strange ringer directly in her head. It was a strange sensation to say the least.

"Don't surprise us like that," Nitori, who was lost in her daydream, turned around, annoyed.

"But, look, this thing here suddenly popped up and make noise," Marisa protested.

"I don't see it."

Marisa growled and swung her arms to the side, about the say something, before she heard a crisp chime like a bell tolling. Her hand appeared to have hit something solid.

"Patchouli, are you pulling my legs?" Marisa inquired. Her cheeks puffed up as the ordinary witch held down her stomach, suppressing her giggle.

"What?"

"Is this the panel or sign you are talking about?" Marisa gestured in the air, making rectangular and hexagonal shapes and earning a quick nod from both Lunaire and Patchouli.

"You see them too," Alice raised her voice a pitch, alarmed.

"Yeah, and it said Patchouli wants to be my friend, do you accept?"

"Patchouli, quite desperate, aren't you?" When Remilia finished, she burst laughing unreservedly. The thought that the taciturn magician was cripplingly lonely made her feel indescribably tickled.

In a moment uncharacteristic of Patchouli, her expression darkened as she leveled a resentful glare at the vampire. Of course, all it did was egging Remilia on with her teasing.

* * *

"Well, isn't this just distasteful," Remilia spat.

"I wonder how they built it that tall even if they looked disgusting," Nitori tilted her neck. A glimmer of interest could be seen in her eyes.

Sakuya turned to the shorter Kappa and asked the question that her mistress left unvoiced. "Can they be demolished?"

"We sure can do that, but if you want that done quick, you might want to ask Marisa."

Yukari's seemed successful with the transfer. Everyone was alive, albeit with strange deterioration to their power, and the mansion stood relatively intact. As a testament to the fact that they were no longer in Gensokyo, stony rectangular towers, which dwarfed anything they had seen before, replaced the lush forest nesting Scarlet Devil Mansion. Green moss and vines snaked around the crevices of these towers, giving a ruined and aged impression. Remilia could only regard them as gigantic ruins. The misty lake and its perpetual blanket also disappeared. Small rocky flat ground, covered vegetation, unfolded in front of their redbrick gate. Overall, the new dreary atmosphere displeased Remilia greatly. Flanked on three sides by monolithic ruins, the only positive she could think of was the shelter they offered from the sun.

"Wait. Let's see where we are first," Remilia said as she swept her eyes across the landscape.

"Great, I thought I have to beg you to keep it up long enough for us to study," Nitori's thirst for knowledge shone through.

"You Kappa can go ahead and study it to your heart's content. Don't expect it to stand there too long," Remilia made her intention to do away with the towers as soon as possible clear.

"Please be careful," Sakuya added dutifully.

"Don't worry about us Kappa. We know when to run," Nitori snickered and gestured theatrically toward the mansion. "Even if we are weaker, I am sure that the magical defense is still up to snuff."

Remilia grinned and laughed uproariously. Looking toward the western perimeter, the vampire regarded a group of girls busying themselves. "Otherwise, I don't even know why we bring so many magicians," she said haughtily.

"My lady, please note that their current magic power is severely limited," the maid reminded her. While it pained her to contradict her mistress, Sakuya was not completely heartless as to ignore unfair comment to her comrades.

"How very unfortunate," Remilia huffed and walked to the front gate.

Light parasol shielded away the offending sunlight, so a vampire like her can comfortably walk around during the day. Having gotten enough sleep, Remilia felt no hurry to return to bed. She had just arrived in the new world and determined to make the best use of her first day.

Since her mistress made her intention clear, Sakuya did her best to accommodate. Swiftly opening the iron gate, the duo strolled out to the devastated landscape of modern city.

* * *

After ascending the tallest building near the mansion, Lunaire sighed. If his memory served, he left for Gensokyo around the turn of the century. He was no stranger to high-rises, even if it had been a little under 20 years since he saw one. Seeing them again dug up some nostalgic memory but did not cause the surprise he felt.

Spreading across his eyes was a modern city or what was left of one. The morning sunlight illuminated a cityscape ravaged by time and vegetation. Just the one he currently stood on, there were many other high-rises around, in various state of disrepair. Some looked abandoned but relatively intact, while some were crumbling apart, exposing the rebar steel and piping to the element. He could not tell whether the damage was completely natural running its course or partially from human hands, so he looked toward Reisen. The rabbit had nothing to say. In the end, they only knew that they arrived in the ruin of modern city without a clue about the cause of its destruction, not an assuring realization, given their weakened state.

There was one strange feature about the city that stood out. To their west, a wall was erected, separating the city with the wilderness outside. Rather than concrete, heavy stone bricks and cobblestones made up the entire structure, giving off different feel comparing to the ruin it surrounded. Outside the wall, a deep and wide wet moat could be seen surrounding the city. City wall and moat were considered obsolete even long ago with the advent of hot weapon. The fortification belonged to a completely different era than the city, but also much newer. This could only mean one thing. Someone set up shop in this ruined city.

"See anything?" Lunaire said nervously as he raised his spyglass back to his deep blue orb. Without his ample mana for scrying spell, they had to find a high perch and rely on the primitive Kappa's spyglasses.

"No. This thing is very hard to use. I can't see much with it at all," Meiling complained but she kept scanning as thoroughly as she could with the spyglass's limited field of view.

It was one of the charming things Lunaire found about Meiling. Although she sometimes complained lightheartedly, she usually tried her best with her task. As a reliable teammate, Lunaire did not find her wanting.

"Nothing at the moment," Reisen answer half a beat later.

With a click, Lunaire folded back the spyglass into the cylinder and somehow stored it in his inventory. Lunaire wondered how the strange interface could do such thing and where was the power source. For now, he shelved the thought and pulled up his friend list awkwardly and tapped on one of the names.

After a ringing chime, a voice could be heard in his head. "Yes, Lunaire?"

"Remilia, we don't see anything moving in the surrounding. But don't relax just yet, because we can only see so much from up here. There is also a sign that someone set up shop in this city. I am not sure whether they left or are still here…"

"Hmm, so I was right choosing patrol the surrounding."

Lunaire raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure you are not just bored?"

"I don't know what you are talking about," Remilia giggled.

Lunaire could imagine her cocksure grin on the other side of the line. Then again, nothing could be done at this point anyway. If she was bored and wanted to use helping as an excuse to play, he would not stop her. The vampire could take care of herself. He hoped.

Just as he was about to cut the call, he heard, "there are people over there."

"Where?" Meiling jumped on the action immediately, grabbing onto Reisen's shoulder.

"At the end of the alley, beyond the red sign saying Akiba game store, there are a group of people walking around?"

Lunaire turned and walked toward Reisen, noting the sign she was pointing at. His eyes widened slightly, considering how close it was, merely a few blocks away. He raised his spyglass up and observed in silence.

"They looked like villager," Meiling noted their similarity with the people she saw at Human Village in Gensokyo.

"I don't see any weapon," Reisen spoke plainly, not wanting to jump to conclusion.

Lunaire felt his head dizzy from the loud voice ringing in his skull. "Hey, what is going on over there!"

Remilia was not the one to appreciate being left out. She most likely heard everything from start to end and wanted in. Unfortunately, Lunaire decided not to humor her.

"Sorry Remilia, you will have to sit this one out."

"Not a chance!"

"We cannot leave the mansion undefended. I need someone I can rely on to protect everyone and keep the Kappa in line. Please, Remilia," Lunaire implored softly.

"Fine, but I want in on the action later, preferably soon. Soon, you hear?" Remilia hammered her words and pouted, not that Lunaire could see.

"Let's go," Lunaire said calmly before yelling, "wait!"

Both his hands latched onto Meiling shoulders. Digging his soles on the ground, Lunaire winced from the feedback and forward momentum imparted onto his body.

"Lunaire-sama, what are you doing?"

"No, no, what are you doing?"

"I am jumping to the other building," Meiling tilted her head in wonder, not understanding the reason Lunaire was looking at her with such critical eyes.

Apart from losing their prodigious magical output, especially vexing Lunaire, their physical ability regressed significantly. Lunaire had middling strength and dexterity among grown men, so he did not suffer too much regression. On the other hand, Meiling suffered quite a severe downgrade. Rather than the explosive strength she prided herself with, Meiling was hardly different from a typical human, maybe a little on the upper bracket.

After thinking for a moment, confusion cleared from her eyes and Meiling chuckled nervously. If Lunaire had not stopped her, she would be plummeting to the ground. Not wanting to test the durability of her regressed body, cold sweat drenched her back.

"Come on, we are flying. Reisen, take the lead, bring us closer." Lunaire trusted her military training to know where best to land and observe the crowd.

"Understood."

* * *

Peering over the edge, Reisen craned her neck back at Lunaire, who blinked innocently. He unashamedly evaluated himself as higher than average on the look department, but if she could tolerate his presence for the past few years, he doubted that she was suddenly smitten with him. Also, she stared deeply at his forehead, not his face. So, he tilted his head curiously. Seemingly satisfied, she turned back over the edge.

"People of the land," Reisen mumbled.

Unable to suppress his curiosity, he peaked down the ledge to the bustling street below. Unlike the completely deserted area around the mansion, people could be seen milling about. Merchant and shopkeepers yelling over each other to promote their wares, keeping wary eyes for customers and possible thieves alike. Without the information on the total population of the city, the significance of this street could not be evaluated. A major thoroughfare, shopping district or a small market, it was still up in the air at the moment.

Lunaire focused his man on one of the men behind the vegetable stand before a familiar interface popped. However, unlike the ones on his friends, the border was teal green, not purplish blue. Next to their HP bar, the word "people of the land" was displayed. So, somehow, these people differed from his merry band, Lunaire concluded.

"Do you think we should go talk to them?" Meiling scratched her head.

Lunaire hummed softly. "People of the land and adventurer…it doesn't sound like these two titles have any conflict with each other."

"We never know," Reisen countered. Sometimes, just belonging to different group was plenty for a bloodbath or two.

"Can you eavesdrop from this distance?" Normally, moon rabbit's boasted good hearing. But unsure how much of that remained, Lunaire asked anyway.

To be honest, it would be best if they did not get any closer. Not only could the pedestrians see them easier, the ones overlooking from the windows might spot them as well. Estimating from his mana pool or the so-called MP bar, concealment magic from his part would last eight second tops. Reisen, closing her eyes in concentration, could not see the gleaming expectation on his face.

"Where did those adventurers go?"

"I don't see a single one of this since early morning."

"Then what am I supposed to do? These fruits won't last until the evening in this heat."

"When are they when we need them the most!"

"I will pay double for the one that appear right now!"

"Then I will go."

"Let alone a slime, you dimwit can't even kill a chicken without getting hurt."

"Hahaha!"

Having heard enough, Reisen relayed her finding to her two teammates. A sigh of relief spilled from her lips. Her worst fear did not come to pass. Rather than their nemesis, adventurers were simple mercenaries. While Reisen did not recall signing up for the job title, she shrugged.

"They have jobs for us to do?"

"It seems so."

"I am already the gatekeeper of the mansion though."

"We will need the local currency, just in case we need to buy grocery." Lunaire offered.

"Right, Sakuya…" Meiling trailed off, thinking about her colleague. They had a healthy store of food stocked up before the move, but that wouldn't last them forever. "Let's just hear the man out first then."

Reaching an agreement, the hopped down from the rooftop they perched upon, breaking their fall with appropriate application of flight spell. Since dropping down like superheroes in the main street was too eye-catching, they jumped down to the alley, surprising the few eyes of fewer passersby.

When they cleared the alley, Lunaire felt eyes focusing on them from all direction. Cold sweat dripped down his brows. In this vulnerable state, he certainly did not appreciate being the center of attention. Within the stares, he could sense relief, curiosity and derision. Only thing stopping Lunaire from retrieving his weapon from his inventory was the mere fact that none displayed overt hostile intention.

"Oh, there they are…finally," one of the stall owners scoffed under his breath, mistakenly thinking that they would not hear him. He continued harshly. "Oi, you three, do you think you can help me with something."

His disrespectful attitude elicited a frown from Meiling. She promptly smoothened her face the way Sakuya taught her when dealing with insufferable guest. To the rabbit credit, her expression remained unperturbed, brushing aside his rudeness. Lunaire's sarcastic gland was tickled, only slightly, so he let it go. Since the man called out to them first, the three humored him.

When they neared the stall, the man unceremoniously said, "I need help urgently. I need around 2 pails of clean blue slime. I am willing to pay to 6 gold for them if I can get them before noon. What do you think?"

6 gold coins, Reisen wondered. Her red eyes veered slightly behind the counting, catching a glimpse at pile of small coins. Even if gold was not as valuable in Gensokyo, it still was not something that a fruit stall could fork out so easily, especially six of them. This meant that the value of gold here was abysmal over here.

Looking at the price of the fruits and sparing a glance at the different stall around the area, Reisen roughly estimated that the man offered a reasonable sum. If she had to guess, it should be enough to buy a cheap lunch for one. Of course, the final verdict depended on the task involved.

"Clean blue slime? Just what do you need that for?"

The man stared back at Lunaire in astonishment. He shook his head and narrowed his eyes slightly as if he could not believe his ears. Lunaire stood firm when the man leaned in a little closer.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing, I just need them to keep these fruits fresh."

Meiling did not want to ask how this clean blue slime could keep fruits fresh, adopting an innocent look and egging Lunaire to keep talking.

"Where can we find that?"

"Don't ask useless question you…wait, are you new?"

"Yes, so excuse me for not knowing much."

"Well, fine," the man turned to the side and stretch out his hand. "Down that street, you will see the south city gate. Wander around the area a bit and you will find some blue slime rolling about. Just knock out its core, cut out the dirty part and bring the rest to me. Simple for a newbie like you, yes?"

"Sure, you want it quick?" Reisen asked, covering her eyes, and looked up. The sun halfway up to the zenith gave them ample time to work with.

If the slimes were not too difficult to find or dispatch, it would be worth the effort. Not that they had anything better to do other with their time. Stalls and stores on the street, built mostly from wood, offered little in term of protection from elements and active threat. The mansion should be safe, alleviating the main concern of their excursion.

"Right," he grunted. "Where did all of you folks go this morning?"

"Us, we are on a different job, but I think that is not what you were asking." Lunaire answered nonchalantly.

"No, not just you guys. How come I don't see any adventurer since morning?"

"I don't know."

The stall owner let out a snort at the unsatisfying answer, not knowing that Lunaire became interested in the whereabout of the remaining adventurers. It seemed that the stall owner fully expected them to be around to accept his errand, meaning that they should be quite common.

"So, you are going?"

"Sure," Lunaire shrugged.

As he said that, the trio heard a refreshing clink in their mind. At the corner of their vision, a small quest tag pulsed. Reisen was the first to press on the tag, opening a quest menu. Much to her surprise, a crude memo of their assigned task appeared. In easily digested format, the information they acquired off the trader was logged directly in there.

The merchant called out again after the three turned away. "Are you guys in a party?"

"Yes?"

"Then you should accept more quest from these folks. Even when I bumped your pay a little, 2 gold won't feed each of you."

"Thank you,"

"Whatever…but I want my stuff before noon, you hear me!"

Why did it not work?

* * *

In a moment so outlandish for her, Sakuya slammed the metallic bowl loudly into the sink, adding another to the pile. The thunderous crash spilled the vile content, mixing with the filth from the previous batch. Thick blackish-purple sludge congealed at the bottom of the sink, being another testament of her failure.

Sakuya glared at her hands as if it had betrayed her in the worst possible way. They were trembling. Sores and blister tainted her previously flawless hands. Yet, the physical pain fell short of mental ones. A volatile mix agitation and desperation ravaged her heart like fire that could not be put out.

Hearing the familiar charm in her head, Sakuya almost slammed her fists onto the tabletop. There, in her peripheral was a small label. As if in mockery of her previous failure, it displayed that she became a level 18 Perfect Maid. What perfect maid, Sakuya rasped. For the one such as her who could no longer bake a simple cake, calling her perfect maid was equivalent to spitting at her face.

Her mistress asked for Sachertorte, something perfectly within her capability just a few days ago. Yet, why was it that her batter always turned into eldritch slime?

It was an absolute impossibility for a mixture of flour, eggs, sugar and butter to end up that color. Sakuya's mind refused to comprehend it that she tried again and again till her hand blistered. Popping some of them carelessly, she wrapped them up roughly, uncaring of the potential scarring.

Her raison d'etre was serving her mistress, Remilia Scarlet. She desired nothing beyond that. Her other happiness was merely a luxury that she would discard without hesitation. Sakuya never doubted that her service to the scarlet devil would conclude with her death, giving her life for Remilia, so an ending like this was truly unacceptable. Her path ending simply because she failed so fundamentally as a maid, how laughable and shameful would that be?

No, Sakuya did not yield. Her eyes took on a craze glint when her hand snatched the next glass vial from the countertop and down the content. Mere moment later, Sakuya felt mana essence searing through her vein, but bit down the pain. Shifting her concentration up to her forehead, a familiar interface appeared and confirmed that her MP returned to 150.

Before Sakuya could activate her time dilation spell to speed her next trial along, soft footsteps echoed down the hallway. Such light impact could only mean one person, causing her silver eyes to fill with despair.

"Sakuya?"

"My lady, I…" Sakuya bit her lip so deeply it bled.

"Sakuya, what is wrong," in a flash, Remilia rushed in, seeing the haunted look from Sakuya. It had been forever since she had seen such expression from Sakuya.

"My lady, it is my fault," said Sakuya.

Remilia flapped her wing, lifting her of the ground, and grasped lightly onto Sakuya's trembling hands. Her vampiric nature attuned her to the physical wellbeing and blood flow of any organisms. Not a glance was needed to confirm the sores and blister marring her maid's hands. A pair of crimson eyes swept through the room sharply the first target to obliterate from existence.

Remilia came down to the kitchen because Sakuya disappeared for so long. No matter how difficult or unconventional the dishes, Sakuya would complete them in a jiffy. Even when deprived of her signature time manipulation, Remilia trusted in Sakuya's cooking proficiency and experience to deliver. Only major trouble worthy of her intervention could delay Sakuya in her duty.

The crimson eyes drawn toward the haphazard pile of bowls in the sink. She asked curtly, "is this the failed cake batter?"

"Yes, my lady,"

"Sakuya…do not insult your intellect like that."

"I am truly sorry."

"There is no way a normal cake batter can create this sludge," Remilia gestured at the congealed slime. "Even if you burn them to a crisp during whisking, such a thing cannot happen. Even if I haven't made one myself, I at least know this much."

Hearing consolation from her mistress, Sakuya smiled bitterly. As a goal-oriented individual, resulted mattered more to her than the process in the end. Above all else, it was an undeniable fact that she failed to meet her mistress expectation and more unforgivably, still did not know the way forward.

"Sakuya, do you still know how to make Sachertorte, even just in theory?"

"Yes, I do."

"Hmm, this world is more unreasonable than I thought." Remilia rubbed her chin. "Is it simply impossible to cook in this world? That is horrible!"

"…" Sakuya could not help when her smile broke out. Without a word of doubt, Remilia accepted her answer fully. In her mind, Remilia would rather question the world than believe that the maid simply forgot her cooking skill.

"…My lady, are you up for some Sunny Side Up?"

"Oh, maybe this time I will understand Lunaire's fondness for them," Remilia chuckled and sat down on the table.

Ignoring her mistress ill-mannered conduct, Sakuya swiftly dug up some intact eggs from the ingredient pile she prepared. Blue flame billowed up from the magical stove. A flick sent a slice of butter onto the skillet with practice ease. The hissing flame promptly melted butter, releasing the savory aroma.

One after the other, the eggs transformed into a glistening white gel with bright yellow sun in the center, under the surprise stare from Sakuya. Only when she properly decorated them on the plate did she release the breath she held unconsciously.

"Apparently, cooking is still allowed," Remilia mused and begun tearing the whites apart, savoring the taste of the freshy made sunny side up. "There is no problem with the taste either."

Spearing up another piece, Remilia offered her maid a bite. The hesitation Sakuya showed before finally relenting caused the vampire to grin teasingly. The pair of dark blue eyes narrowed contently. Rather than the taste, Remilia believed Sakuya was relishing on something else and quickly finished the quick oily brunch.

On a side note, Remilia tried to draw attention away from the fact that she left the yolks completely intact, slicing away the whites with surgical precision. She could not fathom why Lunaire was so fond of such foul texture. Sakuya, calming down, was content not to hold it against her mistress and scooped up the rest for herself, pleased.

"So, a simple food like this is okay, while a cake is a no-go."

As she said so, Remilia fiddled with the dial of the stove, producing a hissing flame from its opening. Sakuya responded with alarm, knowing that fire was particularly damaging to vampire like her mistress. Remilia waved casually. She placed the skillet above the flame and beckoned the maid for a few eggs.

Sakuya noted from the hissing that the flame was most likely too strong and turned it down before handing Remilia some butter that she forgot. A quick slice from the vampire tore a huge slab of butter into the pan. As soon as the butter impacted the hot skillet, they heard a strange pot instead of the expected sizzling. The slab of butter had transformed into the strange abomination.

"Well, isn't that just interesting?" Remilia tilted the skillet, rolling the congealed blob of black and purple around.

After a moment of silence, Sakuya offered her conjecture. "My lady, it might be something related to the strange windows that we discovered."

"What do you mean?"

"If I recall correctly…when I try making the cake batter, I kept receiving a small display, telling that my," Sakuya emphasized her next words. "Perfect Maid subclass has leveled up."

"Your subclass…is it related to the class thing we saw," Remilia opened her own and Sakuya's interfaces, eyeing the label Swashbuckler and Assassin, respectively. "I don't see subclass."

When the word subclass was uttered, a smaller panel revealed itself, displaying the title. Unlike for main class, the subclass menu was quite simplistic, not showing the stylized symbol. For the vampire, her subclass called Scarlet Moon was shown prominently, quite fitting in her opinion. The display included a string of text, but Remilia disregarded them as it was not the time nor place.

"I have a subclass at well. You might be able to learn something about your Perfect Maid subclass by saying something along the line.

"Subclass," Sakuya mumbled and scanned around the panel that popped up subsequently. "Perfect Maid Lv. 18."

"So, your number has increase. My number is only 1." Remilia shrugged. "Ignore the cake, just continue with your regular duty. Patchouli might know something about this."

Finally discovering an avenue to pursue, Sakuya relaxed the tension in her shoulders slightly. After discovering the possible source of the problem, she could put her effort into rectifying it, not sitting around feeling useless about herself. Comfortable to leave Sakuya to her own device, Remilia strode out of the kitchen confidently after she wiped the oily mark of her lips.

* * *

Reisen knew that the fruit stall owner meant well with his suggestion. Meager 6 gold was not enough for a livelihood. But he did not tell them that they would get swarmed before they started, no less, by the owners from the adjacent stores. To the surprise of only the trio, the other people of the land (Landers) relied heavily on the freelancing adventurers as well. Since they were the only ones available since the morning, the landers scrambling over each other to get their quests in, spooking Reisen in the process. If not for their benign intention, she would have flown away at the first sign.

While their quest log happily chimed away, their mental fortitude was tested constantly for the next half hour. They could refuse the quests forcefully, but the landers, knowing that they asked a lot of the trio, sweetened the deal with generous payment. While numerous, the three of them could finish by the early afternoon if they pushed it, netting them just a little over 100 gold.

After successfully evading the mob bombarding them with unceasing quests, the trio finally arrived at the south gate. The ravage of time stripped away the ornate features of the gate, leaving only the general contour. Outside the gate were a moat, filled with strangely clear water, and a wide stone bridge, offering wide birth enough for at least 4 carriage to travel side by side.

Reisen found the design to be most peculiar. Unlike most stone fortification, there were neither portcullis nor reinforced door anywhere. Instead of a proper drawbridge, the crossing was made of stone and offered no defensive benefit. For a city fortification, this was a fatal flaw for it allowed the enemy to waltz into the settlement unimpeded.

Leaving the city proper, the trio armed themselves with their weapons of choice, hidden in their armory. With that said, only Reisen and Lunaire brought weapons because Meiling preferred to let her body do the talking. He did not tell the gatekeeper that he brought extra pair of daggers, in the case that Meiling found it hard to beat anything regressed physical strength.

A long blue spear materialized in front of Lunaire when he pressed on its icon on the interface. Both the shaft and the blade gleamed in the sunlight, seemingly made of bluish glass or crystal. Instead of a short spear tip, Lunaire opted for a slightly longer blade when he crafted it to facilitate small cut. The area joining the rod and the blade was decorated minimally with lightly colored precious stone. In the core of the joint, a blue flame burned softly in the glassy material normally as it would in air. On the other end, the rod ended with a dull spiky protrusion that could do some damage with some heft and speed.

Although its shape resembled a spear and it functioned like a spear, the weapon was undoubtably a staff. Lunaire crafted it a while back as a proof of concept for a new technique. While it fulfilled its purpose quite well, the inferior materials marred it performance in certain area. Lunaire only brought them out to make them look less suspicious. Of course, he had his favorite and most powerful instrument ready in his inventory should things went south.

To his side, Reisen strapped a Wakizashi to her belt. Like Meiling, the rabbit usually did not favor carrying weapon into battle. But, given the fact that they were no longer in Gensokyo and her atrophied physicality, Reisen chose the smarter rout and sought out force multiplier. Another experimental results of the crystal forge technique, the wakizashi also sported a thing blue crystal for a blade. Crystal boasts superior hardness and retained the sharp edge very well but was brittle when forged so thinly. To counteract this flaw, spells were incorporated in to reinforce the integrity while lightening the apparent weight.

Reisen left her trump card in her inventory. Kappa's technical ability never failed to astonish them. Capable of reverse-engineering their own polaroid camera from outside world, Reisen supervised them to create her very own firearm. Previously being in the Lunar military force had its perks.

Hugging the side of the moat, they found the blob of sky-blue jelly milling about in the grass. These creatures appeared quite harmless, living without care in the world. Their body appeared to be quite soft, deforming with the undulation of the ground. Within its clear interior was a region that appeared darker than the other, most likely the core mentioned by the storekeeper.

On top of their jiggly bodies were the familiar labels, containing HP bar and name. Unlike the typical ones they had seen on themselves and the people of the land, the label was colored bright red. It also showed different information, including rank and Lv. Apparently, these creatures shared the "Normal Rank" and possessed different "Lv," meaning absolutely nothing for the trio.

"These things are either biological marvels or evolutionary mishaps," Lunaire chuckled, recalling the biology books he read a few decades back.

He moved closer to one of them. Although it had no discernable eyes, the creature had no trouble detecting him, sliding quietly toward him. Lunaire stopped and leveled his blade, aiming steadily toward the core.

Lunaire dabbled in many martial arts and knew a thing or two about most weapons under the sun, despite being a magician. However, he only ever claimed proficiency in three fields. One of which was spearmanship, used to reliably keep his opponent at a comfortable distance with a staff.

When the creature arrived within a few meters, it leapt at him. Unfortunately for it, this level of abruptness was hardly enough to daunt him. Adjusting the tip, Lunaire let the slime speared itself, piecing deeply to its core. Like a puppet with its string cut, the blob stilled. The green bar indicating its HP instantly vanished along with the label on its body.

"They are like rice dumplings, but meaner," Meiling chortled and cracked her firsts. Given the fact that they needed around 2 bucket worth of these slime, they needed quite a few, judging from their average size. "Let's get moving then."

"Sorry to rain on the parade, but I think I should finish them on my own. It is too much hassle walking around getting every one of them. We have other jobs to do."

Lunaire raised his freehand perpendicular to the ground. Reisen's eyes sway lightly in the wind, pulled in to Lunaire's palm. Feeling the appropriate amount of mana siphoned into his spell or a little under his current reserve, Lunaire confirmed all the targets.

_Air Needle_

Something clicked and the compressed near his palm condensed into white haze in the shape of numerous needles. These thin and long needles rushed out to a few dozens of slimes roaming the field. Each needle accurately pieced an unnoticeably small hole through the slime core, extinguishing their lives simultaneously. Like human, stabbing a long needle through their gray matter was rather devastating. As if the time had frozen, the slimes froze in unison as the information labels disappeared into motes of light.

"Let's clean them up and…" Lunaire's voice trailed off from the strange charm at the back of his head, following by an energized sensation deep inside his body. A label flashed incessantly on the peripheral of his vision. When he focused on it, the entire interface lit up.

You became a level 2 sorcerer.

You became a level 3 sorcerer, or so it indicated.

So, Lv meant letter, Lunaire concluded. Glancing down to the HP and MP gauge, Lunaire was shocked. Instead of halving, his purple MP bar remained the same. More importantly, the capacity increased. Gasps of surprised quickly followed among his friends as they surely discovered for themselves.

Lunaire paid condolence to the monsters in advance. If killing them could somehow raise his level, especially his mana capacity, they were dead, even if they hadn't realized it yet. Simultaneously, the trio broke into vicious grins.

In unison, the monsters in the zone shivered.

00000

_**Starting Status:**_

Name: Remilia Scarlet

Race: Human (True Ancestor)

Class: Swashbuckler

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Scarlet Moon Lv. 1

HP: 192

MP: 154

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic: Scarlet Moon is a unique subclass only permitted to Remilia Scarlet. Like Vampanella-subclass, it offers vampire-like skills and enhances her stats at night, but to an obscene degree, scaling with the level of the subclass. In addition, this unique subclass grants her powerful regenerative factor at night and to a lesser degree, during the day. This holder of this subclass also suffers more from sunlight, taking damage and debuff from direct contact. However, unlike Vampanella, daytime itself does not give any debuff, merely taking away the buff during the night.

Scarlet Moon also has one unique skill, not inherited in inferior version, to manipulate fate, an ability akin to divine providence. Reality bends to accommodate the wielder with appropriate cost. The ability specializes in manipulating macroscale events.

As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant a permanent subclass of High Noble Vampanella through a vampire kiss. The recipient will gain the same benefit as Scarlet Moon, but diminished, while taking heavier penalty in direct sunlight. They too can grant other the subclass of the lowest grade, Noble Vampanella. The third-generation recipient can no longer grant a subclass.

* * *

Name: Sakuya Izayoi

Race: Human

Class: Assassin

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Perfect Maid Lv. 1

HP: 150

MP: 150

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic: Perfect Maid is a special subclass, currently possessed only by Sakuya Izayoi. Rather than an occupation, Perfect Maid is more like a way of life. Like Maid and Elder Maid subclass, the skill-tree includes serving food, housekeeping and etiquette rivaling that of a high noble. But unlike the lesser counterparts, Perfect Maid's ability extends to time and space manipulation. The raison d'etre of a maid is to serve their master. Perfect Maid takes this to a degree that time and space bend to their will, so that their chores can be finished swiftly.

As a special subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Imperfect Maid as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of Perfect Maid skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Perfect Maid by their mentor, starting from level 1.

* * *

Name: Lunaire Vivian Meister

Race: Human (Youkai Magician)

Class: Sorcerer

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Fantasy Theorem Lv. 1

HP: 120

MP: 207

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic: Fantasy Theorem is a unique subclass only permitted to Lunaire Vivian Meister. This subclass tailors to sorcerer, enhancing elemental damage, survivability and versatility with its skills. This subclass also shares similarity with artificer, having skill-tree that gives bonus to using or crafting magical artifacts. In addition, the holder can synthesize and research new magic or improve existing ones, using the knowledge they accrued. Sounding lackluster on paper, the holder can bring tremendous amount of magical power to bear in an upfront combat, bypassing elemental resistance with versatile spell combination.

Fantasy Theorem has a unique ability to manipulate probability. Unlike luck that randomly hands out good outcome, the skills of this subclass require a cost to pick out a desired outcome among many other.

As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Senior Artificer as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering magic artifacts production skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Fantasy Artificer by their mentor, starting from level 1.

* * *

Name: Patchouli Knowledge

Race: Human (Youkai Magician)

Class: Sorcerer

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Eternal Library Lv. 1

HP: 120

MP: 207

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic: Eternal Library is a unique subclass only permitted to Patchouli Knowledge. This subclass tailors to sorcerer, enhancing elemental damage, survivability and versatility with its skills. It also passively grants improved memory, instinctive grasp on most spells and increases magic-related parameters, such as mana regeneration. This subclass also shares similarity with Demon Book Curator, having skill-tree that gives bonus to using or crafting grimoires. In addition, the holder can synthesize and research new magic or improve existing ones, using the knowledge they accrued. Sounding lackluster on paper, the holder can bring tremendous amount of magical power to bear in an upfront combat, bypassing elemental resistance with versatile spell combination.

Eternal Library also has two unique aspects. The holder has increased affinity toward the five phases, sun and moon elemental spells. It will be much easier to mold and combine these elements to their whim. Eternal Library also confers buffs from being near books, scrolls and other paper-related objects. The buffs can scale to ridiculous degree depending on the environment.

As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Senior Arcanist as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to Fantasy Arcanist by their mentor, starting from level 1.

* * *

Name: Flandre Scarlet

Race: Human (True Ancestor)

Class: Swashbuckler

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Diabolic Wave Lv. 1

HP: 192

MP: 154

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic: Diabolic Wave is a unique subclass only permitted to Flandre Scarlet. Like Vampanella-subclass, it offers vampire-like skills and enhances her stats at night, but to an obscene degree, scaling with the level of the subclass. In addition, this unique subclass grants her powerful regenerative factor at night and to a lesser degree, during the day. This holder of this subclass also suffers more from sunlight, taking damage and debuff from direct contact. However, unlike Vampanella, daytime itself does not give any debuff, merely taking away the buff during the night.

Diabolic Wave also has one unique skill, not inherited in inferior version, to destroy whatever she pleases. By conceptually moving special point of any object to her hand, the holder can pour in their mana to crush the eye, unconditionally destroying said object. As long as required cost can be met, the instant death effect will be evoked and can only be evaded with enough luck or equivalent power to defy destiny.

As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from this subclass. However, the holder can grant a permanent subclass of High Noble Vampanella through a vampire kiss. The recipient will gain the same benefit as Diabolic Wave, but diminished, while taking heavier penalty in direct sunlight. They too can grant other the subclass of the lowest grade, Noble Vampanella. The third-generation recipient can no longer grant a subclass.

* * *

Name: Koakuma

Race: Human (Devil)

Class: Summoner

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Familiar Devil Lv. 1

HP: 120

MP: 198

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic: Familiar Devil is a special subclass, currently possessed only by Koakuma. This is a subclass related to an occupation. As a familiar in the service of a magician, the skill-tree offers enhanced mental capacity, advance calculation and increase magical ability. The holder also receives mana as payment from their master. In return, familiar must obey all direct command from their master, lest they receive a powerful debuff and increasing level of damage. The devilish aspect of the title comes from the added ability to beguile mortal and conjure evil flames to punish their foes. The devil can also offer temporarily contract with any mortal race, like trading, but includes the intangibles like health and mana.

As a special subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. This subclass can only be gained in a specific circumstance of being a devil and signing a familiar contract with a sorcerer. Devil subclass can be granted by a specific ritual involving a sorcerer and a devil, starting from level 1. The holder of Familiar Devil qualifies as one of the participants of the ritual. Familiar Devil subclass can then be gained by signing a binding contract with any sorcerer of their choice. Signing a familiar contract retains half the devil subclass level.

* * *

Name: Meiling Hong

Race: Human (Cultivator)

Class: Monk

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Rainbow Gatekeeper Lv. 1

HP: 207

MP: 120

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic: Rainbow Gatekeeper is a special subclass, currently possessed only by Meiling Hong. Unlike a typical gatekeeper, health and regeneration are increased to an ungodly degree, capable of soaking up even more damage. Specialized in defending an area, this subclass is equipped with supplemental crowd control and area of effect skills, atypical of warrior classes. This subclass also grants the uncanny ability to detect and track the enemies within immediate ability, offering serviceable defense against sneak attacks. In addition, the holder can also channel their mana as Qi into projectile or augment their physical prowess to a disgusting degree.

As a special subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Tai Chi Chuan Initiate as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Rainbow Gatekeeper by their mentor, starting from level 1.

* * *

Name: Marisa Kirisame

Race: Human

Class: Sorcerer

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Ordinary Magician Lv. 1

HP: 120

MP: 207

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic: Ordinary Magician is a unique subclass only permitted to Marisa Kirisame. While not sounding impressive, this subclass enhances aspects of the sorcerer, increasing spell potency and magic-related parameters. This subclass also shares similarity with Alchemist, having skill-tree that gives bonus to using or compounding potions. The holder can synthesize and research new magic or improve the existing ones, depending on the knowledge they accrued.

Ordinary Magician also has two unique aspects. Firstly, this subclass offers powerful buffs and upgrades in tough situations. Depending on the choices, the holder can easily stage a comeback from the jaws of defeat. Secondly, the holder is a hallmark of human endeavor to make the impossible act possible. It may have special hidden effect.

As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Eastern Witch as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Witch of Earth by their mentor, starting from level 1.

* * *

Name: Alice Margatroid

Race: Human (Youkai Magician)

Class: Sorcerer

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Seven-colored Puppeteer Lv. 1

HP: 120

MP: 207

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic: Seven-colored Puppeteer is a unique subclass only permitted to Alice Margatroid. Other than powerfully supplementing aspects of sorcerers, this subclass offers skill almost like a summoner, but rather than summoned beings, the holder controls a legion of dolls. Able to construct and design their own battle dolls, the holder can use them in variety of purpose from common chore to combat. Like production subclass, Seven-colored Puppeteer augments competency as a dollmaker. Yet, it also increases the combat effectiveness when using said dolls. Increasing control limit and dolls' stats, lowering mana upkeep, enhanced field awareness are the least that this unique subclass offers. In addition, the holder can synthesize and research new magic or improve the existing ones, depending on the knowledge they accrued.

Seven-colored Magician also has two unique aspects. Buffs to mana regeneration and spell potency will be applied, depending on the colorfulness the attacks used or active on the field. Their dolls used by the holder also receive special improvement. When used in large number, their stats increase marginally. More importantly, they also gained rudimentary awareness, able to react more intelligently without the external command.

As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Senior Puppeteer as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Grand Puppeteer by their mentor, starting from level 1.

* * *

Name: Reisen Undongein Inaba

Race: Human (Jade Rabbit)

Class: Assassin

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Lunatic Red Eyes Lv. 1

HP: 150

MP: 150

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic: Lunatic Red Eyes is a unique subclass only permitted to Reisen Undongein Inaba. This subclass grants the ability to manipulate waves and insanity. Passively, the holder is immune to any attack or debuff based on light and soundwave. In turn, the holder can manipulate light and soundwaves to great detriment of her foes, such as dealing direct damage or stacking various debilitating debuffs. Some of the more powerful ability require eye-contact. In addition, this subclass heightens agility and dexterity along with a bonus to substantial ranged weapons and potion production.

As a unique subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. The holder cannot grant any subclass related to wave manipulation. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship for specialist subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, focusing on scouting, medicine compounding and range damage. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to an Operative by their mentor, starting from level 1.

* * *

Name: Nitori Kawashiro

Race: Human (Kappa)

Class: Bard

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Genius Engineer Lv. 1

HP: 158

MP: 150

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic: Genius Engineer is a special subclass, currently possessed only by Nitori Kawashiro. Like mechanic, this subclass deals with construction and maintenance of machines, but to a savant like level. Invention comes to them so easily that it completely negates the drawback of having no specific blueprint tied to the skill-tree. Their manufacturing process grants substantial increase to the stats of the machine they built. Genius engineer also has high affinity to any machine, especially the ones they built, receiving many bonuses to their equipment stats. As a cherry on top, the holder also has marginal increase in their strength, health and dexterity in the unlikely case of their invention exploding.

As a special subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Junior Engineer as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of Genius Engineer skills. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Genius Engineer by their mentor, starting from level 1.

* * *

Name: Motoori Kosuzu

Race: Human

Class: Summoner

Lv.: 1

Subclass: Demon Book Curator Lv. 1

HP: 120

MP: 180

Guild Affiliation: N/A

Special Characteristic:

Demon Book Curator is a special subclass, currently possessed only by Motoori Kosuzu. Like scribe, this subclass allows for creation, processing and maintenance of paperwork and related accessory. However, its capability extended toward more complex magical books, especially demon books that are the namesake of the subclass. To be worthy of the title, the curator is an expert in handling demon books, which can be a frustrating and hazardous affair. An expert curator can decipher any writings and bring the capability of magical books to their full potential without suffering any drawbacks.

As a special subclass, an apprentice cannot copy any skill from the holder. However, the holder can grant an apprenticeship, giving Bibliophile as a subclass. The recipient will be granted a special skill-tree, offering a diminished version of parent subclass. After reaching level 100 with this subclass, the apprentice can be promoted to a Demon Book Curator by their mentor, starting from level 1.

00000

And there you go.

This chapter starts out quite slow, because I want to capture the feel that all Touhou cast simply do not get MMORPG. I hope that the section with Sakuya is not too out of character. I see her as a very loyal individual and prided herself with her ability as a maid. To lose that all of sudden must be quite the experience for her.

If you are wondering where the other adventurers go, they haven't appeared yet. They will appear in the afternoon. According to the Harlem Lord manga…ahem…Nishikaze no Ryodan, the lander narrated that the adventurers appeared unconscious in Akihabara from the portal, the one they used in Call of Home.

Please leave suggestion or word of encouragement in the review. Those things get me going when I write.


	2. Chapter 2: Arrival 2

ITalkToSky here,

Oh boy was this chapter difficult to write. The first few days of after the Apocalypse are quite blurry in the source novel and anime, so I had to dig through the manga for some details. You won't see the effect on this chapter, but it will influence the other chapters down the line.

Fair warning, I will take some liberty with fleshing out the world, because I imagine a lot of interaction between Touhou casts and People of the Lands. Unlike most players, people from Touhou fully treated the world as reality and will not have misgiving dealing with the so-called NPCs.

If you have read the little subclass explanation in the previous chapter, you might think that the Touhou characters are overpowered in this story. This is of course, working as intended. The only thing keeping them in check is their lower level, but for how long? We shall see.

00000

Meiling's hands appeared empty even though she technically carried around half a wagon load of herbs and monster parts. The relentless carnage with her friends left quite the trail of destruction. Carcasses strewn about the forest were roughly hacked apart for any useful or simply interesting parts before the trio moved to the next area where the process inevitably repeated. Convenient nature of inventory system made them forgot the limited carrying capacity, so it wasn't long before the first among them filled their inventory to the brim.

Willing to squeeze the last drop of value from the hunt, Lunaire and Reisen dumped part of their inventory to Meiling to carry back before continuing their rampage. Of course, Meiling was not quite willing to leave the fun bits for the menial task, submitting their quests, selling parts and whatnot. As a consolation, they allowed her to wander about the main street after submitting the quests, seeing if anything caught her fancy, before returning to the mansion.

In regard of her mission, Meiling quickly grew to appreciate her quest menu. With the names and descriptions recorded neatly, the gatekeeper found the task quite manageable. The shopkeepers knew each other on the same street by name and were quite willing to point her in the right direction, although not forgetting to ask about their own requests.

Dumping the pails of slime with that rude fruit stall owner, 3 bushels of Meadow Bell with the alchemists among others, Meiling still finished her task in record time. Since it was still noon, Meiling decided to fully use her privilege. Out of their total earning, each was entitled to a sixth, with half contributed to the shared reserve fund. Roughly speaking, Meiling had around 14 gold to her name.

"Are you interested? It is 5 sticks for 3 gold," the girl called out, seeing Meiling eyeing her stall curiously.

The redhaired monk sniffed softly, noting the peculiar lack of smell in her nostrils. The supple appearance of the freshly cooked pork with a few burnt spots, glistening with oil, alluded to a pleasant eating experience. Yet, for some strange reason, Meiling could not sense a drop of aroma from the appetizing display, not even the smell of smoke or sizzling lard.

"Can I get just one," Meiling asked briskly.

"Sure, but it will be one gold each then."

"Fine," she waved offhandedly, dropping a single golden coin.

Walking away from the stall, Meiling eyed the pork on a stick suspiciously. Her face jammed in so close that she could feel the oiliness on the tip of her nose, yet she still could not smell anything. Not just losing her robust physique, she wondered in horror whether she lost her senses as well. Glancing back at the stall owner, Meiling noted that she acted very naturally as if nothing went out of place.

Meiling shrugged. Given how close she was to the mansion, she could rush there if the food was poisoned. Within the dungeon turned warehouse, a general antidote potion would surely be hiding somewhere. If push came to shove, Koakuma would find it. Meiling gulped at the thought, gathering her courage, and bit down on the glistening meat. She instantly regretted it.

Even with the appetizing appearance, gleaming with excess oil, Meiling's tongue vehemently disagreed with her eyes. It looked like pork, but it certainly neither tasted nor textured like pork. If anything, its taste reminded her of Japanese rice cracker, but unseasoned and unsalted. The bland taste was exacerbated by the soggy and lumpy mouthfeel.

Used to the fine food cooked by Sakuya, Meiling spit out the meat in reflex. She eyed the stick of meat with an unfiltered look of horror and disgust as if it was an abomination or a crime against food. Good, she only spent one gold. If she spent three gold for five sticks of that trash, Meiling did not even know how well she would react.

The Landers around her looked at her in wonder and disgust, wondering why the redhead adventurer was wasting precious food. With reckless disregard, Meiling flicked the rest toward and continued with a sour mood. The prospect of wandering around the food stall evaporated into thin air. All she could think was returning to the mansion to cleanse her palate with Sakuya's superb cooking.

Suddenly, she heard the sound like crackling electricity, reminding her of one of the wood elemental spells, Static Green, from Lady Patchouli. Meiling snapped to the side alarmed. She backed away from the anomalies occurring around the main street.

Hovering in midair, glowing portals multiplied exponentially a few meters above the street. These were shining white, obscuring the scenery behind it. Neither curious nor stupid enough to stay and find out, Meiling somersaulted to the second floor of the ruined building nearest to her and pressed herself behind the window.

"Isn't that Call of Home or something the adventurers can use."

"When we need them, we can't find them. When we don't, they just come out of the woodwork," one of the traders spat.

Taking in the information within earshot, Meiling carefully peeked through the window to the street below. While she was not looking, the portals each spat out a human and had begun shrinking. Meiling was greeted with the sight of the dirt road decorated littered numerous bodies. More than several hundred humans covered the street, completely insensate and showing no sign of waking up any time soon.

The sleeping mass was probably one of the most varied bunch of people she had ever seen. In the human village, most villagers wore simple kimono of different cut and colors. On the other hand, no common pattern could be seen among theirs. Some wore heavy armors and chainmail, carrying spears and swords as if they were preparing for war. Their weapons looked rugged and well-used, hinting at their deep experience in warfare Yet, some dressed so lightly in a floral dress, cute hats, and sleek boots. Their colorful outfits appeared so breezy that an arrow might just pierce straight through. Then again, the wooden staves they carried probably made up for their flimsy dresses, taking Patchouli as an example.

Looking at the overall picture, Meiling almost thought they were an invading force. But, judging from the reaction of the landers, these people were not judged as a threat. If they were indeed an invading force, what was so the big idea behind arriving completely unconscious?

She focused her gaze on the again, noting the presence of purplish labels above their head. Adventurers, she concluded. She had no idea as to where they went in the morning, but there were back. Relocating to the rooftop, Meiling kept away lest one of them spotted her. Even if they were somehow classified as adventurers, the same as her, it did not guarantee her safety. Just like how belonging to the same species of youkai did not promise an amicable relationship between two individuals.

Focusing on her forehead, the interface shimmered into existence. Calling up her friend list, Meiling swiftly pressed on one of the names.

"Patchouli-sama, the adventurers had returned," Meiling cut straight to the issue.

Simple pleasantry was unnecessary when reporting. Considering her conversational partner, Patchouli wanted information quickly, so Meiling quickly relayed her findings succinctly. All the while, she never heard a peep from the other side.

"Is that so," Patchouli responded flatly, unlike the veiled excitement when she received the news about leveling up.

"What do you suggest I do?"

"Return to the mansion promptly," Patchouli stated firmly. "We have a bigger problem."

Meiling frowned, peering down to the adventurers finally waking up from the siesta. "Should I notify Lunaire-sama and Reisen?"

"I am one step ahead of you. Just come back," Patchouli cut the line, giving Meiling an ominous premonition in the process.

* * *

"So, what is the big idea here? It was just getting good as well," Lunaire said jokingly, falling in line with Meiling in front of the giant work desk.

Meiling did not respond, but she nodded lightly. In Gensokyo, she rarely had the chance to literally beat something to death. By no mean was Meiling craving senseless violence. She just needed some exercise or a chance to unwind, considering that she got beaten around all the time guarding the Mansion. The sound of bones crunching, and meaty impact felt through her fist were quite therapeutic. Well, perhaps Meiling slightly craved violence, just not senseless. There was nothing unreasonable about brutalizing something trying to maim and or kill you. Anyway, she digressed.

"Oh, you will be back to your business shortly. But…do us with you." Patchouli gestured to the two beside her working desk.

Lunaire did not bother concealing his surprise, blinking confusedly. While Patchouli taking the initiative to leave the mansion was astronomically rare, like an incident, Lunaire nodded in understanding. Considering the current situation, Lunaire would find it strange instead if Patchouli did not want to hunt some monsters. By leveling up, the MP gauge, in other words, their mana capacity, increased. Since their magic was the livelihood of a magician, used for self-protection and research, he was certain Patchouli could not wait to get started. The question was the other two.

"…" Sakuya was still the epitome of stoicism. Although she mellowed somewhat after his arrival, her poker face remained top-notch. Unless she let her guard down, he had no confidence in reading anything from her.

"Hehe," Remilia giggled.

For Remilia who eagerly jumped on any source of entertainment, it was certainly in his expectation that she wanted in. However, the sun had just left the apex. What was the hurry that made a vampire willing to tolerate the sunlight to simply go out? Even though Remilia might have been simply excited, Lunaire disregarded such a simplistic explanation. If that was truly the case, Remilia could simply go out to join their hunt on her own without having to recall him back.

"We need to get Sakuya leveled up as soon as possible," Patchouli predicted his unsaid question. "As someone with the experience outside the city, it will be most efficient if you can guide her."

"Why is the hur-…" Lunaire cut himself off, putting all the pieces together.

The most significant effect of leveling up seemed to be a marginal improvement to their constitution and mana capacity. From her words, Sakuya required these two aspects improved desperately enough that any help she could squeeze out was highly appreciated. Constitution would improve her capability to clean the ginormous Scarlet Devil Mansion, but certainly not important enough to warrant such rush. That only meant that Sakuya wanted the mana capacity to enable the use of her time manipulation ability. In her line of work, she needed her ability primarily for two purposes.

One was accelerating her working pace. The huge interior of the mansion required a proportionately large amount of manhours to maintain. As the sole consistently competent maid in the mansion, she had many responsibilities. Managing the vast premises, her job could be considered backbreaking at the best of times. So large were her responsibilities that she literally did not have enough time in a day to complete them all. Without her time manipulation, Sakuya was stumped enough without the unforeseen mess adding to her misery.

Two was maintaining the anomaly that was Scarlet Devil Mansion. Evident from the first moment one stepped across its threshold, the inside of the mansion was even more spacious than its already respectable size of the exterior frame. Time and space had an inseparable relationship. Interfering with one meant partial influence over the other, so Sakuya's ability permitted the residents to squeeze out more living space than logically possible through space dilation. Her ability was quite efficient, needing only periodic recasting to be effective.

Yet, it was an impossible task to maintain the dilation field encompassing the mansion and the dungeon below with the meager reserve she now possessed. If she did not reapply her spell before the reality reasserted itself, the outside would look pristine while the furniture inside ripped themselves to shred from space recompression. The mess would be legendary.

Lunaire did not know when the last time the spell was applied, but the best-case scenarios only gave him two days at maximum and maybe few hours at the very least. His eyes widened in alarm. The plans to assess the threat level of the newly arrived adventurers or earn more money swiftly flew out of his mind.

"Okay, that is a hurry alright," Lunaire chuckled nervously.

"I like someone who understands thing quickly." Remilia giggled. Her high feminine voice made her quite charming.

"Eh, what are you all talking about?" Meiling looked between the four that seemed to be having a different conversation than the one she was listening in.

"Koa!" Lunaire raised his voice toward the library spanning the entire wing of the mansion.

"Yes!" A cry responded to him before a flash of black and red appeared before him. "Did you call for me, Lunaire-sama?"

"Can you bring me some boxes, a few metal ones will do," Lunaire instruct briskly.

"You could have used the call function, but alright then," Koakuma flew off without question.

"What for?" Patchouli inquired.

"Unlike Reisen who should be selling her haul while spying on the adventurers, the bounty I carry in my inventory is for us to keep. They seem interesting enough." Lunaire shrugged.

"Oh, you brought a gift. I wonder what they are."

"Body parts…and not humans'" Lunaire quickly stopped Remilia's grin from widening any further. "Just some interesting parts we got when dismantling the monsters, some herbs, some interesting minerals, nothing much."

"Che," Remilia clicked her tongue.

Swiping his hand and calling up his friend list, he contacted the rabbit he left behind in the city. Two rings passed before the Reisen answered the call, surprising him slightly.

"You called just in time. I have finished collecting our rewards and selling any excess materials. I will continue with observing the adventurers. For now, I…"

"Something really urgent came up. All I want to know right now is that the other adventurers are not hostile, yes?"

"Yes," Reisen answered firmly, seemingly unfazed by the urgency in his tone. "What should I do now?"

For Lunaire to ask her to abandon such an important mission, it only meant he had something even more vital for her to do.

"Meet us at the front gate. We are going hunting," the call went silent.

Reisen furrowed her brows but shook her head vigorously. She mustn't question the command, Reisen slapped both her cheeks lightly. Eyeing the disorganized and confused mob before her, she decisively turned away and trotted to her destination. None save for a few noticed her passing. Even they care little for a random girl with lilac hair.

* * *

_**Zone: Archive Forest Tower**_

Once the prosperous academic district, the vines and parasitic plants reclaimed the territory that housed bookshops, library and research laboratories. Crumbling buildings and concrete piles meshed with the greenery, painting to life the image of the Earth after the fall of civilization. Books rotted, leaving behind only the decayed leather, and the machinery broke down. Lunaire preferred the idyllic sceneries, but even he had misgiving of seeing the towering achievement of man being reduced to such a humble state.

Nothing of value remained within these ruins, save for the weaker monsters that made the area their nesting ground, worming about in the corpse of a vibrant city. Unfortunately for them, they were about to be exterminated mercilessly. After leveling a few times with the trash monster inhabiting the peripheral of Akihabara city, the group of six progressed deeper into the Archive Forest Tower, seeking stronger preys.

Sticking together would be much safer but much less efficient. Sakuya needed to be leveled up as quickly as possible, so they forwent this method. Yet, each of them was not cocky enough to believe nothing in this strange world could threaten them, thus they compromised. Adopting an open formation, the six members split into three pairs. Each pair always remained within visual contact and loosely coordinated, casting a wide nest.

To the extreme left were Meiling and Reisen. Armed and sufficiently leveled from the morning excursion, they were the advance force to bait in the enemy. For some reason, the monsters instinctively drew toward the members with higher level, including Lunaire.

Supporting the left from the center were Remilia and Sakuya. Although Reisen had misgiving letting the two under-leveled compatriots teaming up, Sakuya would not budge from the mistress's side.

Patchouli and Lunaire hovered around the right flank, keeping their eyes open. Being exposed themselves, Lunaire stayed doubly vigilant and fended off any monsters deciding to probe their flank, like this pocket of goblins.

The goblins congregated in a disorganized mob, centering around the leading shaman. Armed with little more than stone cleavers and shoddy bows more prone to snapping than killing their enemies, they swarmed forward with reckless abandon.

As the one with the pointy stick, Lunaire stood dutifully in front of Patchouli to meet them. Of course, the magicians were in no rush to meet them in melee, perfectly content to pull back slowly while focusing down the encroaching foes. Despite the withering spellfire, some managed to reach him.

A quick jab with his staves and Lunaire quickly retreated. The sickly sensation felt through the shaft and the spurting blood confirmed the accuracy of his strike. Anatomically, the strike should have been instantly fatal, ruthlessly spearing through the heart. A part of the aorta was possibly nicked as well. Not that it mattered, having a heart nearly bisected should be deadly all the same. Yet, the goblin stood, reeling from the strike and alive.

The goblin's green bar was reduced to a sliver. If the HP was not entirely depleted, the monsters would unhesitatingly throw themselves back in combat. Lunaire transitioned to a light reverse cut while simultaneously retreating out of the stone cleaver slashing his way by another of its ilk.

Rather than swing the staff around, knocking the one overextending with a slash to the side, Lunaire invoked a spell rapidly.

_Flash of Spring_

A hazy mist condensed on his palm before shooting out at an unseen speed. Worthy of its name, the air bolt left only misty trail in its wake and no other disturbances to the surrounding. Without the spellcard rules in the way, Flash of Spring revealed its lethality, punching a hole straight through the chest of the unlucky foes. Like taking a gunshot to the heart, the goblin collapsed limply like a puppet with its string cut.

That was one other inherent anomaly in this world. The wounds, which should have been identical in their effect, were not identical. There was nothing strange when the goblin died instantly from the Flash of Spring opening a new breathing hole where its heart was. It was a whole other problem when the goblin did not die from the stab to the heart. The narrow blade made a thinner wound, but a bisected heart was quite equivalent to hallowed out ones. Both wounds produced no extra effect other than a bleeding heart either.

Normal and magical attacks were not considered equal. Stabbing through the heart with a spear was less powerful than piercing the heart with spells. This held true even for Sakuya, who dealt more damage if she accelerated her knives. The wound may look the same, but the impact to the HP bar was significantly higher. Of course, this came at increased mana cost and must be used in moderation.

"Level" was whole other can of worms. Taking Patchouli as an example, her Summer Red easily cored out a sizable boulder, partially melting the pieces remaining. Yet, when she was around level 3 in the afternoon, she had no difficulty charring a slime. But she struggled against level 18 goblin, requiring 5 fully charged fireballs. Rather than being melted into slag like the boulder or vaporized, the level 18 goblin could still run around chopping people.

The spell's MP consumption and the devastation to the scenery remained constant. But somehow, the enemy of a higher-level could simply absorb and mitigate the damage of the attacks by a lower-level entity without any shielding. Their natively larger HP pool could not explain the difference as Patchouli easily one-shot-ed the bugger once her level caught up. Of course, the ridiculousness that was five-shot-ing a monster 18 levels above oneself went right over his head.

From his left flank, Lunaire felt mana emanation. Over in the yonder, a goblin wielding a staff bared its toothy grin a few notches cockier than usual. Satisfied that it managed to rush up and flank a puny human, the goblin shaman was unprepared when Sakuya swooped in from above and lodged a pair of silver knives into its eyeballs.

Sakuya leveled up swiftly but still was not quite up to the standard of the monsters they were facing. If the shaman hung back with its guards, Sakuya would not have such an easy time targeting it, having to evade the cleavers and pointy sticks in the way.

Slashing the neck, stabbing the heart and the forehead with a knife, Sakuya quickly disappeared into the ruined skyscraper before the goblin entourage could even reach her. It seemed that her class fitted her like a glove.

The shaman barely lived through the assault, owing only to its higher level. It shrieked miserably, shambling back toward its guards. Although Lunaire saw a budding intelligence within them, able to understand the concept of flanking, they were merely one step above animals. The shaman took a gamble without planning for any case where its plan could go wrong. That said, Lunaire fully intended to properly annihilate these goblins. There was no telling what could become of the budding intelligence if they were left alive to learn.

The guards surrounded the shaman protectively, just the way Lunaire wanted. Due to their frantic dash, they completely neglected their spacing. A clump of juicy targets just presented itself to him. Who was Lunaire to refuse?

"Patchouli," Lunaire yelled to Patchouli, hanging back a few paces behind him to the left.

Without waiting for her confirmation, Lunaire yelled "_Snaring Stakes_." Responding to his words, thick tree roots pieced up violently from the ground, spearing straight through the bodies that happened to be in the way. Some were exceptionally lucky and avoided the gruesome impalement, but the stakes formed a cage impeding their movement and that was more than enough.

"_Summer Flare_," Patchouli declared when she rose off the ground. Unrestricted by the spellcard rules, the spell's lethality was fully unleashed upon her foes.

In an instant, her thick grimoire snapped open before a gigantic crackling ball of flame materialized and shot toward the bound goblins at high speed, leaving behind a trail of superheated air. Even Lunaire who stood a safe distance away felt the powerful heatwave on his cheek. Barreling head on to the ground, Patchouli's spell struck true.

According to the five elements theory, wood fed fire. Thick stakes filled to the brim with wood-oriented mana were ripe for the flame spell to consume. The large fireball turned the cage of stakes into an impromptu pyre, erupting a few meters high and immolating the goblins within. Lunaire heard their howl of agony but found no trace of sympathy in his heart.

"_Compression_," Lunaire invoked elementary magic, pushing the air inward from all direction. Under the five elements system, air and lightning counted as wood attribute.

Receiving both the magical fuel, the wood element, and the scientific fuel, oxygen, the flaming pyre roared. Briefly compressed and then exploded into a blazing inferno, charring to soil pitch black. Not even ash remained where the goblins once stood within the flame.

Pulling out his friend list, Lunaire connected to Sakuya. "Thanks for the assist."

"You are welcomed."

Lunaire thought that the maid would not stray too far from her mistress and asked, "where is Remi…"

The answer he got was not from Sakuya but came in the form of a thunderous crash from crumbling concrete pile. Dust enveloped the area, but Lunaire's vision was clear enough to witness the ensuing act of violence.

From the left side, Remilia's performed a flickering movement, vampire signature high-speed dash, and struck a particularly muscular goblin flying into the concrete pile before him. Lunaire had to give credit to the goblin. Its hands held its large stone shield and cleaver in a death grip, not that it would help. Before it could rise off the rubble, Remilia, possibly its worst nightmare at that moment, appeared in a flicker.

With one hand holding the parasol shielding away the sunlight, Remilia went to town with her free right hand. Her vicious claws, laced with crimson aura, stabbed forth and withdrew in rapid succession. Mercilessly, Remilia tore into the beast's neck and innards, practically eviscerating it. The disparity between their level, which should have been to the goblin's advantage, only prolonged its suffering, requiring more clawing and tearing action before the sweet release of death.

When the HP gauge finally depleted, Lunaire felt a tiny pang of sympathy for the monster as its body slumped down in a bloody heap. Remilia's pink dress, caked in thick blood, gleamed with malevolence. When she turned to face him, her terrifying appearance gave a whole new meaning to scarlet devil mansion. Yet, a pout could be seen on her face, contrasting deeply with the brutality she previously committed.

"I don't want any more of this!" She whined loudly as the blood slowly evaporated off her dress. Unlike dirt and grime, bloodstain would quickly disappear on its own. Another one mystery of this world.

"Didn't you always complain that you want to fight something meatier?" Lunaire chuckled wryly.

"I meant someone new that is worth fighting, not these…sandbags or maybe meat bags," Remilia crossed her arms, still maintaining the shade with her parasol.

She had a point, Lunaire admitted. These monsters were lackluster combatant with the only redeeming aspect being their numbers and variety. Only the faintest hint of teamwork could be seen when the goblin shaman appeared. Otherwise, they were content to swarm the closest non-goblin living being and chop the hell out of it. Their ungainly gait and poor form made them poor excuse of a fighter. Someone of Remilia's caliber, even when weakened, struggled to miss against opponents of this level.

"You are right, but this is for our sake as well," Lunaire shrugged and smiled wryly. "Just continue pouring your frustration into them. It is pretty therapeutic."

"Before that, I am running on fumes," Remilia admitted with frustration. Her previous self could go a few more rounds without breaking a sweat.

Lunaire pressed contacted Reisen, "Remilia ran out of mana. Please pull back to recover."

"Very well."

"Um," Lunaire hummed in assent.

The sun had hovered slightly over the horizon, coloring the world in pale orange light. Although it became much harder to shield with a parasol, the crumbling skyscraper took over the job for Remilia.

Considering that they started a little after high noon, their hunt went on considerably long. The urgency of their mission spurred them on, fighting relentlessly and only taking a few breaks in between to keep their reserve afloat. Perhaps, the sunset was a sign that a longer break was in order.

"Sakuya, I am hungry," Remilia remarked softly.

"Very well, my lady," Sakuya appeared in a flash.

"It's dinner time, Reisen. Fortunately, we don't have rabbit stew," Lunaire added light-heartedly through the telepathy.

"Very funny," Reisen dragged her voice.

"The earth rabbits of Eientei are surprisingly tough, so I wonder what moon rabbit tastes like."

Reisen felt an eerie familiarity with that line. "Did Tewi tell you that?"

"About what?"

"About the earth rabbits. I hope you haven't been hunting our rabbits."

"Hehe, Maybe?"

Tewi once joked to her not to eat the earth rabbit because their meat was tough, despite being one herself. Reisen hoped that Lunaire simply pulled the same joke on her, because if Lunaire did try them and found them to be tough…Tewi's joke might not be a joke after all. And that possibility terrified her.

* * *

"…and I had this terrible, terrible pork skewer in the city," Meiling animatedly recounted her experience in the morning. Sitting down leisurely on the boulder, she kept her eyes open for Sakuya to prepare the picnic blanket and set out the food.

"You can eat just about anything," Patchouli noted.

"I can eat most edible food," Meiling emphasized. "That thing was utterly…foul. How did they make it that way? I don't know and maybe I don't want to know."

Inventory system obviated the need to lug their physical dinner around, which the maid was grateful. A few taps and the food items materialized in front of her in the original states when she put them in. Sakuya dutifully laid out her handmade assortments of sandwiches, simple salad, and tea. Anticipating the physical exertion, Sakuya prepared a simple dinner for six. The fact that she still could not cook up something more complex was certainly not the reason that their rustic meal.

A giant basket materialized itself on the Reisen's lap, which she then placed them to the side. Sakuya glanced to Reisen questioningly.

"I thought we might be more famished than normal," Reisen answered with an awkward smile, hoping that Sakuya did not get the wrong message.

It was not in her intention to overstep her boundary. Sakuya reigned supreme in the matter regarding their foodstuff for the residents. Bringing something like this could be viewed as distrusting Sakuya to do her job even if the true reason was to fill out the gap in case, they were ridiculously famished.

Sakuya simply smiled, taking no offense, and moved some dishes out of the way. In fact, the maid was quite grateful. She miscalculated and brought too little food. Constrained by her common sense, she balanced out their appetite with the weight they could reasonably carry. She only remembered about the inventory system only after she finished the preparation, but it was already too late.

"I don't mind at all," Sakuya smiled. "It's time to eat."

"Great, I famished," Lunaire straightened up from his slough, restraining himself not to let his hunger get the better of him.

Patchouli rose slowly off the boulder, sending the last pulse of mana to detect any looming threat in their surroundings. When the ping returned with no significant response, she nodded to herself and made a beeline to their little picnic spot. While appearing indifferent, Sakuya could not help but noticed that the resident bookworm moved with more haste in her steps.

"Itadakimasu," the whole circle chimed, some more enthusiastically than the other. Even the newest addition to their circle had been living under the same roof for months, so no further pleasantry was said before they dug into Sakuya's exquisite cooking. They tacitly decided to leave the sandwiches that Reisen brought for last, just in case they needed more to stuff their bellies.

Remilia hummed to herself in thought. The shenanigans with the cooking process during the day had no effect on the taste of the final product. It was strangely binary. If the sub-class level was not high enough, no matter the technique, the final product could only be a mysterious blob. If it was enough, the ingredients would behave normally like they would in Gensokyo. The taste reflected the seasoning as it should.

They conversed animatedly about the various topics, but inevitably returned to the monsters they fought. They were strange, to say the least. Coming in different forms, they shared two characteristics.

Unlike typical wildlife, these monsters bore unexplainable hostility against the adventurers and would relentlessly attack them. Being territorial and hunting were a valid reason that feral wildlife would attack humans. Yet, those two reasons inexplicably linked to survival, so most animals would break off if they knew they were outmatched, but not these monsters. They would attack and fight until the last breath unless one possessed a significantly higher level than them. It was the prerogative to stay alive became secondary the moment they found adventures at the same or lower level.

Their unnaturalness was elevated to the next level with their body, being highly alchemically active. After death, the bodies would linger for a few minutes, acting as any normal carcasses should. Parts could be harvested and would remain safe from the process that ensued.

If left alone for longer, the body would disintegrate into thin air. It was only through their repeated observation that the magicians concluded that it was an alchemical process. In a split second, the bodies decomposed into various constituent and scattered. The speed they decomposed was so rapid as if they were preprogrammed to disappear after death. Unlike normal monsters and Youkai found in the old world, these showed too many artificialness to be considered natural.

Goblin, these green skins looked like miniature humans but with an unnaturally large head. If the size of the head correlated to the size of their brain, these misbegotten creatures would prove to be more of a menace than a mere nuisance. Their current intelligence was at most halfway above feral instinct, making their common members a little more than brutes with pointy sticks. The only except being their shaman, capable of instructing their dull kin and using magic, they seemed to be equipped with higher intelligence, if only slightly.

Brier Weasel inhabited the area deeper in the Archive Forest Tower. Just like their mundane counterpart, they had sleek bodies, round ears, brown upper coat and white bellies. Only their bright red eyes and the thorny vines coiling around their short tails separated them from their weasel cousin. Operating in a large pack, these nimble creatures attacked ferociously with by whipping their tails or firing condensed mana bullets whenever they spotted the hunting team. Unfortunately, their nimbleness could not save them from an even more agile vampire or immolation by the magicians. For anything that lived, fire was generally a good universal first choice.

On a side note, despite their cute appearance, their fur smelled quite disgusting, so it was probably best not to let them spoil the outfit. Burning these little critters to ash from afar became a good method to remain clean.

Another notable creature was triffid. A carnivorous plant, if its gaping toothy maw was of any indication, hellbent on grabbing anything with its rubbery vines and chomping it down. The giant flower containing its mouth was connected to a thick green stem and roots, which could lift and move the entire plant around. Of course, such horrific creature warranted only one treatment, purging with flame.

Lunaire reached back into the basket and found it empty. His hunger more or less subsided, but he wished for a few more bites to fill out his stomach. Knowing that the exercise would continue throughout the night, he thought it would not hurt to prepare. Reaching for the untouched basket of sandwiches bought by the rabbit, Lunaire promptly chomped down on the regular looking food.

The taste that was nothing regular forced an uncontrollable spat from Lunaire. He maintained only the barest minimum to swerve to the side before spitting. The magician coughed roughly onto his handkerchief, appalled by the taste lingering in his palate.

People generally had an expectation for the taste of foodstuff. No matter how poor the taste, sandwiches should taste of bread, meat, and vegetable. The bread could be stale and meat, rancid, but sandwich should not taste like the one that just left his palate.

"Umm," Lunaire's momentary look of outrage quickly turned awkward from the attention thrown his way.

"That was rude," Remilia chastised, though not sounding offended.

Remilia had known Lunaire to be a rather inoffensive individual. He had the basic courtesy not to commit faux pas or unreasonably find trouble with others, while remaining casual in most situation, one of the reasons she got along with him so well. For someone like him to show such rudeness to Reisen, she concluded that there must be a compelling reason.

"I am sorry…Reisen, I," Lunaire's awkward remark was met with confusion from the rabbit.

"It's alright, Lunaire," Reisen nodded lightly before asking. "Might I ask, what is wrong with it?"

Instead of an apology, Reisen wanted an explanation. Since she did not make the food herself, she had no reason to take the insult personally. But it begged the question, was it so foul to warrant such a strong reaction?

"I," Lunaire hesitated, not quite remembering the exact sensation on his tongue since he was too busy spitting it back out.

Feeling a little guilty, Lunaire reluctantly took another tiny bite out of the crime against food in his hand and blanched. Debating internally, he spat into the bush to the side, before rinsing his palate with the tea.

"It tasted like…rice cracker…plain rice cracker without salt, soggy too. I have no idea that a sandwich can taste like that."

"You are exaggerating," Remilia brushed his comment aside, to which Lunaire responded by offering the side of the bread he did not bite on.

Remilia's scarlet eyes watched him questioningly for a moment. Shrugging, the vampire leaned forward and took a cute, small bite. As if on cue, her eyes widened and a loud spat instantly followed. Unlike Lunaire, Remilia spat repeatedly. Sakuya, as dutiful as ever, loomed over her side and offered a towel to her mistress.

"See," Lunaire tone contained a hint of sympathy. Certainly not something to be offered to his friend, Lunaire found no other way to quickly describe the sensation to the vampire without sounding like an excuse.

"Pu, what was that?"

"I have no idea," Reisen chimed in from the side after recovering from her own bout of spitting. Succumbing to her curiosity, the rabbit suffered the same fate as the other unfortunate three.

"I think I will trust my better judgment not to try," Meiling chucked, having dodged the bullet.

"Please have some tea," Sakuya refilled their cups with more hot tea to cleanse their palate. The strong aroma from the red tea performed its task admirably, calming the three down.

"Thank you, Sakuya…Lunaire, it is I who should be sorry. I did not know that the food will taste like this when I bought them.

"Don't worry, I doubt that you bought them, expecting a taste like that." Lunaire, having cleared his name, smiled brightly.

"Yes, it looked to be a rather respectable stall. I stand corrected," Reisen commented scathingly, recalled the face of the owner who sold such foul creation. "Just how could he cook this up?"

"It is the same," Sitting primly and cradling her grimoire, Patchouli remarked.

"Elaboration, please." Lunaire craned his neck.

"Your description, it matches the one Meiling said about the meat skewer," Patchouli continued plainly.

"You listened!" Meiling felt gratified that someone bothered listened to her rambling before dinner.

Remilia rubbed her chin. "You are right. Meiling was saying something about that, right, Sakuya?"

"I believe so, my lady, but I cannot say for sure. I was concentrating on setting out the meal and had not paid attention. My apology," Sakuya bowed down.

"It matters little. We have plenty left for Meiling to confirm it personally."

"My lady, I think I will," Meiling felt a bead of sweat trailing down her brows.

"Hehe," Remilia giggled brightly, fully intent on enjoying the ensuing show.

With the valiant sacrifice from Meiling, the group discovered another peculiarity of this world. Against all logic, sandwiches and pork skewers tasted the same, like soggy unseasoned rice crackers. It might just be only these two, but Reisen concluded that to be unlikely. According to her recollection, the stall garnered good business, meaning that the common consumer found such travesty perfectly normal. If other food tasted proper, why would one buy these sandwiches and pork skewers at all?

This brought up another question. Apart from her success depending on her sub-class level, Sakuya's cooking remained unaffected and flavorful.

"It might just be their cooking method," Reisen offered.

"Another thing to look into," Patchouli nodded.

Lunaire rubbed his chin. "While it is unthinkable that the cooking method can make two completely different dishes taste the same, this world sometimes defies common sense. That might just be the case."

"Coming from us, the creatures that naturally defy common sense, that is quite something," Remilia rolled her eyes. The vampire loved a challenge like the next resident of Gensokyo, but this was more of a nuisance than anything. Yukari never told Remilia about this when she struck the deal.

"Instead of the method, it might be sub-class? The label stated that I am currently the sole possessor of Perfect Maid sub-class." Sakuya asserted, not willing to be useless.

"That is unlikely," Patchouli countered. "If the stall owners can produce a finished product, their sub-class must accommodate cooking. Or else their food should turn into a pile of goo. Perfect Maid is not the only sub-class that can apparently cook, and I doubt the only class that can make good tasting food."

Reisen nodded in assent. "I agree with that line of thought. But rather than just sub-class, the class itself can also allow cooking.

"What do you mean?"

"The people of the land who were selling food had "Chef" as their class, not sub-class," Reisen recounted her observation when she was strolling around submitting quest.

"Interesting," Lunaire mused.

Sensing that the conversation may move off track, Patchouli brought the rest back on topic and concluded. "But that changes little. Whether if it is because of class or subclass, many people can cook, but only our Sakuya can produce dishes with appropriate flavor, why? Other than the method, is there anything else that makes Sakuya unique?"

"Um, maybe it is because Sakuya is an adventurer," Meiling, who remained silent until that moment, spoke and plunged the whole circle into silence.

The gatekeeper pointed out their inadequate understanding of the difference between adventurers and people of the lands. Apart from the obvious weakness of the later compared to the former, no other difference could be noted between the two groups for now. But, not seeing the difference did not mean there was no difference, so it was certainly possible that people of the land could not cook flavorful food.

"Then, the people of the land certainly got the short end of the stick. Imagine it, eating that trash for years on end," Meiling crossed her arms and shivered.

"But, if that is the case, why is there no other adventurer cooking up good food to sell? They have been around much longer than us, so someone should have discovered how to make food that does not taste like a rice cracker," Lunaire scratched his head roughly as he spoke.

"I hope that they don't think that these soggy rice crackers are good."

"Sincerely, please don't let that be the case, because that is just poor taste."

"I believe we shout stop thinking and start hunting. We are burning daylight!" Remilia cut into their conversation while pouting, eliciting laughter among them.

* * *

Before the six went about having fun with the local wildlife, they remembered that people back in the mansion also needed something to stimulate their minds and left a gift. A giant metal bin was left back at the mansion with an inviting sign of "experimental reagent." The fancy name and ribbon served to hide the fact that the materials within were whatever leftover from their morning hunt. In their defense, it was not exactly a waste bin either as a lot of the materials harvested emitted a faint trace of magical power.

Since Lunaire said to let Marisa play, Koakuma did not object. After hauling the boxes filled to the brim with assorted monster parts, organs and other herbs through the huge double doors of the underground laboratory, she quickly bolted out of there. The matter occurring down in the dungeon no longer was her concern, out of sight, out of mind. The library was safe and that was all that she could ever hope for.

The others never question that Marisa possessed the determination to push forward and gather strength in spade. Her strength that rivaled the unholy might, possessed by many Gensokyo denizens, were the product of unceasing practice and research. Such a good impression was undermined only by the disorderly state of her laboratory, the sanctum in which mage derived their power, making it seemed as if she simply stumbled into power. It was highly unlikely that Marisa could learn anything useful in such an environment that screamed of a slob.

Yet, unlike what many may have thought, the only thing disorganized about Marisa was her tendency to misplace things. Her streams of thought were quite volatile, so she often jumped to the next exciting ideas before properly putting away whatever it was in her hind at that moment, hence the dusty towers of tomes and apparatuses. On the other hand, Marisa did her due diligence for the task currently at the forefront of her mind.

Her crude but oddly effective modus operandi revolved around one concept, trial and error. Through boiling, crushing, drying, mixing various regents randomly, she gradually elucidated their property and synergy. A process that sounded just like childish experimentation yielded result only because of her rigorous record keeping.

She recorded everything, success, and failure, her method, the reaction she got, the property of the product. Even the ashes from her experiments were bottled, labeled and stored, possibly forgotten for months until she read through her observation again. Her strict record ensured that not a single detail would be missing when she picked the project back up.

"Low heat furnace, small cauldron, two-part Holfy ash, three-part water, and one part liquified slime core, stirring four times clockwise, one time counterclockwise," Marisa mumbled.

Grabbing a large lump of charcoal, she dutifully sketched the appearance of the product. With the black charcoal as the base, she filled out the sketch partially with sticks of compressed pigmented charcoal. More than hundreds of shades were available at her fingertips, ensuring that her impression was as accurate as it could be. Even Lunaire and Patchouli had to raise the white flag to her meticulousness in this area.

Spinning the greyish goo in the glass dish, Marisa peered so close that her nose nearly poked the gleaming semi-solid. "the ash properly stayed in the gel this time, but the water drained so easily from the gel. What happens if I dry it?"

"Did you have something?" Alice's eyes finally left her books, sensing the excitement from the other blonde witch.

"Yes, I might need to reduce the water or boil it for longer and I will be set."

"You sure work fast."

"This inventory system is quite useful," Marisa chuckled.

Any ingredients dematerialized into the inventory would be labeled with a description. It was sorely inadequate and vague by Marisa's standard, but knowing that Holfy branch contained medicinal property right off the bat was a godsend. As a woman of magic, Marisa would never rely solely on these strange interfaces and verify the information herself. Without more intimate research, how could she learn that Holfy branch had uses in cosmetic?

Unnamed Dilute Medicinal Salve

Recover 2 HP per second for 20 seconds, slightly reduce scarring and skin blemish.

In total, that should be 20 HP or a third her current points, Marisa thought. Instead of simple medicine salve, this should be called a miracle medicine, healing someone a third way from death. The only thing stopping her was the fact that she knew that HP increased dramatically with level. Depending on that factor, the salve might end up worse than trash.

Since the label said diluted, more concentrated form existed. Marisa concluded that to be her next experiment after ensuing that the salve was not poisonous. Most people did not possess the same poison resistance as her, who played with dangerous substances on a regular basis. But for now, she filed that thought for later, turning to her friend who suddenly wanted to help tidy up her laboratory.

"How is it going for you, Alice?"

"It is getting better. I can now support Shanghai indefinitely."

As if on cue, rounding the corner around bookshelves, a cute doll, Shanghai appeared. Her diminutive size looked comical compared to the stack of books she was hefting. The little fellow appeared animate as ever, smiling brightly. Unlike the usual, Shanghai was not surrounded by the legion of dolls that followed Alice around, floating by her lonesome.

"Hey, that is an improvement! Before, you can barely keep one aloft without panting every few minutes."

"At most, she can hover about and lift some weight. Any more and it will start to eat into my reserve."

"Small improvement is still an improvement, ze!" Marisa chimed with unmatched enthusiasm.

Alice sighed with a smile and continued to tidy the surrounding from the comfort of her seat. It was great that Shanghai could not complain because pitting her against the mess that was Marisa's laboratory was clearly overworking. No doll's right existed, yet. Or so Lunaire once joked.

On Alice's part, she could not wait when such debate became a reality, because it would mean that her dolls gained sentience, the whole point of her research.

"Anyway, how did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Your mana pool should be the same, right? How can you maintain Shanghai indefinitely now?"

"Hmm…it seemed that my mana pool improved if only slightly," Alice confirmed her gut feeling by opening her interface.

"That should only lengthen your control time. You will still run out eventually unless," Marisa implied.

"It seemed that Shanghai mana consumption decreased," Alice mused.

"It might be your sub-class," Marisa referred to the discussion between Patchouli and Remilia about Perfect Maid sub-class.

"Seems like it, I am a level 6 Seven-colored Puppeteer now."

"If it takes 6 levels to control one, how high of a level do you have to be to control your entire legion." Marisa spread her arms, emphasizing the large complement of dolls that usually accompanied Alice around.

Alice sighed deeply. "I don't know. I hope the growth curve picks up later."

* * *

Lunaire's status within Scarlet Devil Mansion was quite like Patchouli's, based on friendship. Arriving in Gensokyo with little personal items, he sought temporary residence at the mansion after hearing that it had a large library among other reasons. To his dismay, he really had nothing to his name at the time that would interest the vampire as rent. Fortunately, he let him stay out of curiosity and simply because she had ample room to spare. One or two resident magicians made little difference to her.

A position of resident magician traditionally boiled down to magical advisor, giving counsel on mythical matters and protecting their employers. Court magician was also a type of resident magician, only in service of a higher noble. Unfortunately, Patchouli's and Lunaire's positions were just glorified title. Not that they were useless, but Remilia more likely sought a chat than counsel for them. The two were more than happy to indulge, given the friendship they shared with the vampire and the free lodging they received.

While technically not on Remilia's payroll, Lunaire was grateful and did his best to avoid being a freeloader. That conviction was the exact reason he down that ridiculously stout tea, forcibly keeping his eyes wide open throughout the night. Lunaire leaned against the cold brick pillar of the mansion gate and yawned deeply.

For that night only, Lunaire agreed to substitute for Meiling. He thought it exceeding cruel to work Meiling to the bone during the hunt then expect her to stand guard during the night. He would not fault her in that case if she fell asleep where she stood. That would also defeat the purpose of having a guard.

Of course, he was in the same boat. The embrace of sleep coaxed him gently to let go as the mental fatigue caught up with him. Adjusting to the new environment, new information, using his concentration during the fight, it boggled him that he remained standing. If not for two reasons, he would have crawled into his bed, curl up and sleep.

One, the mansion needed a guard. This was a whole new world for them, so they knew not the threat that lurked in the shadow. At the very least, they needed someone to raise alarm to warm their sleeping comrade. Unfortunately, the task could not be entrusted to the people not involved in the hunt. He doubted a level one, the lowest one could be, would hold against anyone trying to harm them.

Second, he wished to walk around the town the next day, taking stock of the situation. He got sidetracked in the morning when people suddenly offered him odd jobs. Not that he complained. The portion of coins he received should suffice as pocket money. Since he would be taking it easy tomorrow, it was fitting he carries the heavier load that night.

Thus, Lunaire splendidly held his vigil over the surrounding. If only he was on the outside of the gate, not inside and facing away from the gate, he would appear like a traditional gatekeeper. Not a negligence on his part, Lunaire simply used his spells could survey the surrounding, so his eyes were free to wander. Also, the barriers and other magical protection enveloped the gates and walls of the mansion, thus staying inside would at least prevent being sniped.

Speaking of surveillance, Lunaire perked up from an audible ping in his head. Someone came close enough to the wall to trip the ward he set up. He straightened up from his slouch, tightening his grip on the bladed staff, and waited. Rather than trying to breach the perimeter, they wandered around the walls. Before long, they arrived at the front gate.

"What might be the reason for both of you to be snooping about this late at night? This is private property and I am sure the owner won't appreciate peeping." Lunaire's loud voice spoked the two.

After a brief pause, the lanky figure answered sheepishly. "O-oh…I am sorry. It is just that I have never known that a zone like this exists in Akiba."

"Right, If I remembered correctly, it used to be just another ruined skyscraper in this area. Is it part of the expansion?" The other man said boisterously. His energetic tone reminded him of some drunken Oni back in the underground capital.

The man that stuttered wore a black sweater and light green trousers. Wrapped around his waist was a large belt, holding a sizable bag. Trailing down from his shoulders to his knees was a dull white robe that might be oversized on the top portion. The wooden staff in his hand marked him as a magician, very classic.

To his side was the complete opposite. Any blade or arrows would find it difficult to scratch his body, save for the gaps in the joints or unarmored thighs. Covering himself with thick plates from head to toe and carrying a great shield, the boisterous man appeared ready for war. Though strangely, he armed himself with a comically wide long sword. Although the cutting power was indisputable, long sword faltered against thick hide and heavy armor. Then again, the magic emanation from the sword made up for the shortcoming somewhat, resulting in a versatile choice.

For some reason, Lunaire felt an unfamiliar presence from the first man, remarkably close to human but not. He was not a youkai either. Lunaire had met a lot of youkai, but he could not recognize this feel from the man. On the other hand, the armored man felt like a human, through and through.

Instead of their races, however, Lunaire was more worried about the mana they exude, towered over his own by many folds. Facing the two right now would be like fighting one of the Watatsuki sisters when she was reasonably ticked off. Believe him, since Lunaire had suffered such fate before.

Of course, this was only comparative. Let alone the Watatsuki sisters, anyone in the mansion at their peak state could trounce the two men in the amount of mana produced many times over. Fortunately for Lunaire, this meant the defensive measures deployed around the premise should be potent enough to deter the two should they prove hostile. If the two were comparable to Watatsuki sisters, that would hardly be the case.

Momentarily, the blue flame sealed in the staff grew agitated from the mana Lunaire fed it. Stepping away from the pillar and squaring against the newcomer, he projected a guarded posture but showed no hostility.

"Please state your business if you have one. If not, I must ask you two to leave."

"Oi, oi, there is no need to be so serious. We were just wondering about this part of town that we never knew existed." The armored man paused a bit, peering toward the side. Rather than looking straight at Lunaire's purplish-blue eyes, the armored man veered to the side.

He is looking at the interface, Lunaire thought and returned the gesture in kind. Rather than the detailed window like his friends, Lunaire was shown only the purplish-blue label with the name, status as adventurer and health bar.

"Shiroe-san, Naotsugu-san," Lunaire mumbled the two names and quickly committed them to memory. There were many strong people in the city, but these two were the first who became interested in this area.

"O-Oh, Luunaire Vivainn…Meeister? That is quite the unique name, also written in English, that is even rarer in this server."

Please don't butcher my name but I will let that slide for now. Hold up, what is so unique about having his name written in English? Also, why does the server come up in the conversation? Isn't that something like a hub for the so-called internet?

It had to be noted that Lunaire came into contact briefly with internet when it was still in its infancy, being dialed-up from the telephone line and all. His confusion went unseen to the two as Lunaire performed his best poker face.

"Lunaire Vivian Meister, at your service."

"Nice to meet you! I am Naotsugu and," the armored man pulled the lanky man next to him closer to the gate. "This one in Shiroe."

"G-greeting," Shiroe laughed weakly, used to the antics of his compatriot.

Lunaire nodded curtly and returned to staring silently at the two, waiting for their move. For now, the two made no move that warranted personally chasing them away. Unless they did something egregious, Lunaire would just stare them down for the moment. He was rather apprehensive to rouse the entire defensive grid just to forcibly evict these two men.

There was a flicker and then the labels on the men expanded, revealing further information about them. It seemed that the full status could only be accessible after a round of self-introduction. While it was off-putting that anyone who knew him could interrogate his status at will, there was really nothing to hide within the information plate displayed.

Shiroe, adventurer, level 90 enchanter, HP 8303, MP 12088, No guild affiliation.

Naotsugu, adventurer, level 90 warrior, HP 13295, MP 6613, No guild affiliation.

"Wait! You are a player! Man, with how rigid you were talking, I thought you are an NPC for a second," Naotsugu laughed, not noticing the complicated expression on the man across the gate.

I am standing here alone, and you dare accuse me of being a womanizer? Wait, it seems that NPC is opposite of a player, so he should mean it that way, probably.

"A player? How can you tell?"

Naotsugu looked at him strangely as if he had asked something obvious but humored him anyway. "You haven't notice till now? Your status shows you as a sorcerer, right? It is purplish-blue too, so that means you are an adventurer."

"And the NPC?"

"The People of the Land are the NPCs…Are you new? You don't seem to know a lot," Naotsugu said worriedly.

"I am new to this…business," Lunaire chose the most neutral word he could think of.

"Man, that is just rough. Being suddenly dropped into this mess without knowing anything. Are you doing alright?"

"I…will manage for now but there is still much to learn." His humility gained the approving nods from the two men outside the gate. For some reason, they seemed pleased with his reaction even if Lunaire could not put a finger on it.

"You are level twenty-three, so you must have clocked in some time into the game already," Shiroe broke his silence with his observation.

This is getting more confusing by the seconds, the terms like player, NPC, time, game. The Japanese language could not change so much in less than 20 odd years, so these words should just be jargons.

"Even if you are almost at the low-mid tier players, don't you get cocky! This world had gotten more dangerous than ever."

Lunaire nodded, holding back from saying that he was already on it. "So, this world was not as dangerous back then."

"Of course, the fights are going to get more realistic as ever. You are going to have to face your enemy face-to-face now, you know?" Naotsugu explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

In turn, Lunaire tried his best to keep his poker face from crumbling and looking at Naotsugu like he had a screw or two loose in his head. Hearing such comment from a heavily armored knight made him questioned his hearing. While long-range bombardment duty existed, even magicians could not avoid meeting the enemies close enough to see the whites of their eyes at least once in their lives, let alone warriors.

Naotsugu continued his lecture, not noticing the twisted expression from the silver-haired magician. "You don't get the overlay like in the game, so you now have to operate these clunky status and skill menus during the fight." Naotsugu made a gesture of a large rectangular to the side.

Lunaire knew of the skill menu, just not its proper name until now. From the strange interface, various magical spells were made available to him as he leveled up, along with a handful of mastery points. These points could be used to acquire further spells that were not automatically granted by just leveling up. The spells and skills in the menu were anomalous in themselves, but that was neither here nor there.

Lunaire wanted to retort from his experience that they could simply call up the spells from the instinctive knowledge granted when the skills were unlocked. By just calling the name of the spell and performing the gestures that automatically came to their head, the spells could be cast without the menu. This did not include the spells they learned on their own outside the skill menu.

However, Lunaire held his tongue. Naotsugu and Shiroe seemed like genuinely pleasant fellows. But even then, Lunaire felt no guilt holding back the potentially useful information. After all, knowledge was power.

"Duly…noted," Lunaire answered neutrally.

"Anyway, since we are already here, we want to ask about this new zone that we are standing in." Shiroe glanced to the upper left briefly before continuing. "Scarlet Devil Estate, I believe."

"Scarlet Devil Estate Zone?" Lunaire tilted his head quizzically and mimicked Shiroe's gesture.

Surely enough, the mansion was properly recognized as the zone. However, Lunaire was currently standing on the zone called Scarlet Devil Mansion, not estate as the man said.

"Yes…the lot in front, a few buildings surrounding the mansion and I assume the mansion as well, if the mansion is not a separate zone entirely, make up the Scarlet Devil Estate Zone." Shiroe explained.

"…"

So, Scarlet Devil Mansion belonged to the zone of the same name, surrounded by another area named Scarlet Devil Estate. From the details written on the interface, Remilia's ownership was properly recognized for the mansion itself. Lunaire just nodded and committed the new information to memory.

"For such a large zone, there is no way that I simply miss it for the past few years. So, we assumed that this zone a part of the new expansion, Homesteading the Noosphere, and just wanted to explore." Shiroe finished.

"Your intention may be pure. But no one would appreciate strangers wandering about their residence at this time, regardless of their purpose, don't you think?"

"We thought that like most spaces in Akiba, this is also a public zone without an owner." Shiroe looked up once again. "But I can see that we were wrong. This zone indeed was owned. We apologize for intruding. However, the entry restriction was not set."

"Entry restriction?" Lunaire repeated.

"You don't know what entry restriction is?"

"Come on Shiro, we shouldn't put this handsome guy on the spot. He is pretty new, so give him a break."

"On the other hand, his boss, Remilia Scarlet should not be. A zone this big should cost a pretty penny with large upkeep cost to boot." Shiroe whispered to his compatriot.

"The mistress of the mansion did not inform me of such matter." Lunaire neither denied nor accepted Shiroe's conjecture while reminding him that his whispering was in no way subtle.

"Right, sorry," Shiroe scratched his head awkwardly. "Entry restriction is a system implemented to allow the owner of a zone to exclude other people from entering. This means that he or she can stop someone not among her friends, or not in her guild or any other category from stepping into the zone."

"That doesn't seem like it will work. What exactly is enforcing this entry restriction?" Lunaire countered. "Say, even if the mistress set the entry restriction against the people she does not know, what is stopping them from waltzing in any way."

"Even if you ask me that…we don't really know how the system works, only that it does. If the person banned by the entry restriction tries to enter the area anyway, different outcomes can occur. If the area is accessible by the gate, they won't be able to open the door no matter how hard they try."

Shiroe sweeps his gaze around the area, prompting Lunaire to do the same. "But if it is an open-air zone like this, it will forcibly teleport the interloper off the premise."

"How absolute is it? Can't you just sneak by or break-in?"

"We don't really know now, but while it was still a game, it was pretty absolute. Why? You are not going to break into someone else's places, right? I tell you, that is not good!" Naotsugu hurriedly warned.

"Of course not," Lunaire snorted loudly. "I am just happy that we might not need gatekeeper if we simply restrict entry."

"Which is strange. Considering that your guild master knows about this, why did she have you stand on guard anyway." Shiroe mused.

"I cannot claim to know all her thoughts, but it is safer to treat this world not as a game." As they mentioned the world as a game multiple times, Lunaire returned the word back to them.

"…" The two were speechless for a second.

"What is it?"

"No, it is just refreshing to see someone still looking forward in all of this," Shiroe answered.

"Yeah, unlike others, you kept soldiering on and taking this in stride," Naotsugu added enthusiastically.

"I highly doubt that I am the only one moving forward," Lunaire asked quizzically.

"Then you haven't seen the situation in Akiba lately. Being sent here all of sudden without knowing how or why so many people fell into despair."

Sensing that this was another can of worms entirely, Lunaire politely dropped the topic. He needed some time to organize his thought. Questioning them any deeper than surface-level detail might unwittingly force Lunaire to spill beans. "Anyway, why do you refer to the mistress as guild master?"

"Are we wrong?" Shiroe tilted his head. "She must have the resources of an entire guild to be able to buy out such a large zone as her guild house."

"Quick too, given how fast she bought it up right after the expansion dropped, which is today."

"She was quite wealthy…and quick thinking, very much so."

Lunaire did not correct their misunderstanding. Not knowing how long Scarlet Devil Mansion existed here in the perception of the locals, he dared not confirm. This area might just be a pile of rubble until this morning or a different mansion once stood in its place. Either way, giving a concrete number of how long Remilia had owned the mansion seemed like a bad idea.

"However, she is not a part of any guild," Lunaire said.

"Oh, you guys are not in a guild?"

Lunaire shook his head gently. "Nothing like that."

They exchanged a few words of pleasantry and then parted way, the other party knowing that they overstayed their welcome. With peace and silence returning, Lunaire turned the night into the impromptu stargazing night. The night sky looked so familiar, yet unmistakably strange to him. The constellation appeared as it should be if he was back on Earth. Yet, the magician knew full well that this could never be Earth.

Lunaire had much to discuss with the rest when they woke up, the enigmatic existences that were adventurers, the jargons, guild and the mansion zone. He would tell them everything, except for the fact that he dearly wanted to clobber Naotsugu for unilaterally labeling him as closet pervert the secret from the others.

00000

There you go.

My first draft did not include the scene with Shiroe. But after much deliberation, I added it in. It was in the novel that Naotsugu and Shiroe started collecting information in Akiba since day one, after their meeting with Maryelle (not shown in Anime). I just cannot imagine the two veterans not noticing the new area in the city if they earnestly looked for information. The other adventurers might be too busy despairing, but not this duo.

I decided to give Remilia ownership over the mansion and a good chunk of land around it, giving room to expand in the future. Akiba is in ruin anyway, so I see no issue tucking in Scarlet Devil Mansion somewhere.


	3. Chapter 3: Arrival 3

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

Sorry for the long absence. The PhD program finally started in earnest and the workload is both crushing and baffling. There are a lot of readings and no one to test your knowledge on them. The only problem is that it shows in your project how much you know. But you are not here for my excuses.

00000

What the gap was going on, Lunaire desperately wished to ask, but the intended recipient was way out of reach. Frankly, this was the farthest distance he had ever put between him and Yukari. While not having her around to steal his snack was nice, being unable to reach her when needed was not so much.

Yukari's twisted sense of humor could easily fling him and his friends wherever she pleased, even in the middle of the oh-so welcoming Lunar Capital. He was sure the Watatsuki sisters would be so happy to see him. However, their undertaking involved more than just them, but the fate of Gensokyo itself. To create the new permanent home for the eastern paradise, even the dragons exhausted their effort to pitch in. Even Yukari would not mug about with so much on the line.

This meant that the very dirt he stood was unquestionably on Mars. Specifically, it was the far side of Mars, seeded with life by the dragons' power over creation. Yet, whether far or near side, it was unmistakably real, not some data construct hidden in a computing machine somewhere.

At first, Lunaire thought the adventurers were some sort of autonomous drones that existed in Theldesia, this world's local name. Probably created like golem by some magicians as a defense system against the monsters while gathering resources from a dangerous area. Briefly, after their arrival, these drones somehow gained personality. This would explain why some Landers responded strangely when he talked to them. Lunaire would also react that way if an autonomous golem suddenly started acting like a human, not just mimicking. But the truth was far more confusing.

Lunaire questioned many adventurers discretely in the pub. Since he could not dig too deep without exposing himself, he did not outright hear the answers but figured his conclusion was close to the truth. All the adventurers provided testimonies along the same line without contradiction.

They were sitting in front of their computers.

Lunaire was born and lived long enough in the outside world to witness the rise of gaming. By 1999, the year he departed to Gensokyo, gaming on a personal computer (Per-so-con, in Japanese portmanteau) already became a reality. Lunaire found the concept fascinating that one could squeeze out entertainment from a machine made to do advanced mathematics. With such knowledge, he had no trouble understanding what it was that they were doing.

Disregarding the oddity that all adventurers shared the same experience for a minute, Lunaire drew his first conclusion. Before they regained consciousness in Theldesia, they were sitting in front of their computers, playing the game and waiting for the new update to load. While he could not fathom the advancement in gaming, he understood the concepts.

From this, he concluded that these adventurers were not native, in the sense that they did not originate in this world. Unless there was some technologically advance pocket existing in this world, computer gaming was an impossibility here. The impetus behind the transference of their consciousness into their avatar was most likely the new update they installed into the game. As to their exact origin…

"Where are you from?" Throwing in a little disarming and sympathizing smile here and there, most people, especially women, talked. The concern of telling a stranger where they lived became a non-issue in Theldesia. In their minds, it would be best if he somehow found a way to reach their homes.

The answers varied but struck the chords, Shibuya, Fukuoka, Kyoto, Kanazawa, and many other cities. These adventurers were from Japan or god-forbid, Japan of the past or another unknown world highly similar with a Japan-like area. Lunaire did not want to imagine the later the possibility.

"What were you before all this mess?"

Engineers, teachers, college students, JSDF personnel, again, other familiar-sounding jobs. For computers and such jobs to exist, they must at least be from a more modern era of Japan, matching with the mansion's arrival, some time in 2018. But there was a catch.

Adventurers could belong to any of the 8 different races, human, elves, half-Alvs, Werecat, Wolf Fang, Fox Tail, Ritian. Apart from human, these beings did not exist or living openly in Japan to hold such a day job. From this Lunaire almost concluded that they came from a completely alternate world if not for one crucial information.

Back to the experienced shared by the adventurers, Lunaire believed he did a great job extracting the information about the nature of the game they played without spilling beans. Even if he sometimes received less than flattering stare.

The adventurers were playing the same game, Elder Tale. This very same game was the one they believed they were trapped within. They went on to say that the game mechanics were basically identical. Specifically, most were unsure whether they were trapped in the computer game or they were sent to a different world that operated like the game.

Drawing on the previous conclusion that Lunaire was truly on Mars, the later was most likely true. Somehow, they were trapped on the far side of Mars that operated like this game they called Elder Tale. This brought forth two questions.

Firstly, where exactly did the adventurers came from? Their consciousnesses arrived in this world through the game as if this was a movie called The Matrix, premiered back in 1999. Fine, he forced himself to swallow. But he could not conclude that these people came from the Earth he knew or a parallel world. Either way, he placed low priority in answering this question. The next question was more pressing.

Was the world mimicking the game or vice versa?

If the world mimicked the game, it might simply mean that the Dragons took inspiration from the game existing in the outside world when they created Theldesia. While certainly hilarious for the god-like beings to look at human construct for inspiration, Lunaire was more worried about the purpose. Dragons were not stupid enough to do this as a passing fancy. Something about the Elder Tale's setting made for a good groundwork to develop a world to house Gensokyo.

Yet, the fact that adventurers existed and actively participated in the world before the transfer made this conclusion unlikely.

If the game mimicked the world, then someone on Earth had information about their little project on Mars and somehow created a connection, as impossible as it sounded. This would allow the players to think they were playing a game but were actually manipulating an avatar on this world.

This boded ill for them. Their project was supposed to be kept secret. In particular, the Lunarians must never learn of this, lest they tried to interfere. Not only that, there was the fact that someone out there could fundamentally manipulate this world from Earth.

All this information would be meaningless if he could not integrate it into their course of action. Their goal was simple, preparation of Gensokyo's arrival. To that end, two conditions must be met.

All hostile threat to Gensokyo's existence must be pacified. This did not mean a genocidal campaign. Generally, threats should be negotiated away. If they could reason out, an accord could be struck to achieve peace. On the other hand, no quarter would be shown against those who could not or would not listen or had their fundamental needs that conflicted directly against Gensokyo. Such threats must be purged.

Besides, Theldesia's time ran a few times faster than the standard time, a factor included to help speed the world's evolution along. Somehow, they must correct and slow down the flow of time of an entire world, straightforward but tedious. They had a lot of time as a few years in Theldesia might be only a few weeks or months on Earth.

Regarding their directive, the least of their concern was the origin of the adventurers. Other than coming off as people living under the rock in term of technology, interacting with adventurers should not be too problematic. The only thing they needed to be careful was to be conservative about revealing their more…esoteric skillset.

In the likely scenarios that the Lunarians learned of their plan, they would try to stop it. The only question was how much chip they were willing to throw in. Best case was that only a few raiding parties of moon rabbit arrived to thwart their effort. Even a swarm of moon rabbits, armed with futuristic rifles, could not match up to their might. But God-forbid, if the Lunarians threw caution to the wind and went all in, sending their crème de la crème, nothing could be done. Toyohime would mop the floor with them, let alone with her sister. The only course of action he could take was to prepare the best defense and pray for deliverance.

As for the guy who was capable of interfering with the very workings of this world, Lunaire had no idea where to start. Other than investigating the method such feat was done, he could think of nothing else against the enemy or not-enemy, whose motivation was completely unknown.

Although simplistic, such was Lunaire's way. Better than spending his time brooding all day about the inevitabilities, Lunaire devised a working solution and soldiered forward.

He…They had a job to do and they certainly knew it wouldn't be easy.

* * *

Although he spent the better part of the morning at the pub, he felt like a year had passed for him. Numbness crept up his temple, tempting him to indulge in the pub's selection of ale. The fact that all tasted like tap water stopped him. He had a much better place to spend his money and time.

His heavy heart urged him to just return to the mansion and inform the rest of this grand revelation when they returned. But again, he restrained himself. He left the mansion with a handful of missions to complete.

The hard part was over, Lunaire assured himself. Though straightforward, Lunaire put off the second task for its tedious and time-consuming nature. Unlike gathering information that could be done in a public area, he had no idea where to go to solve the next mission. He only knew that he had to start asking around, so he slapped his cheeks crisply and started.

Walking about the main thoroughfare, ignoring the empty eyes of the adventurers stumbling about, Lunaire looked for the seamstress. The dilapidated multistory buildings on the two sides housed various shops. Some looked slightly better than shacks, while others were tastefully decorated. Keeping his focus, he found his target before long.

Callister's storefront appeared small, but the depth made up most of the show space. Even with the lack of any natural source of light other than the entrance, the magical lamps illuminated the space with a yellow candle-like glow. While the yellow light smothered the color of their selection, Lunaire liked the general welcoming atmosphere. Smoothening out the creases on his shirt, he took a deep breath and plunged in.

A cute lady manned the counter. She only came up to his chin in height. Her maple-colored hair reached down to her shoulders, giving her a refreshing look that complemented her droopy eyes. Dressed in a simple blue one-piece and an apron, the girl glanced at him as he approached.

Since the lady manning the counter could not be treated like children anymore, Lunaire chose a more conservative estimate. "Hello, miss."

"Oh! Hello there handsome, what kind of clothes are you looking for…" She trailed off. "You are…"

"Please call me Lunaire," he smiled.

"Bina," she paused. "May I ask, are you an adventurer?"

"Yes, what gave it away?"

"Your staff, most armed people around this part are either adventures or merchant escort."

"How can you tell that I am not the latter?" Lunaire chuckled softly.

"Intuition," she puffed her cheek. "Also, that staff is quite well made. Not many mercenaries could have something like it."

"Alright then, miss Bina. I have a little question that I hope you can answer." Lunaire smiled disarmingly, hoping not to spook the girl. "I am new to this city, just arrived yesterday."

"Go on," the girl smiled knowingly.

It was not strange to try familiarizing with the new surroundings. Yet, out of all the shops around, this man chose to go out of his way to ask her a question. Unfortunately, her intuition was wrong this time. Hitting on girls was probably the last thing on his mind at that moment.

"I wish to know which trading firm is reputable in this city, the one dealing with women's gown."

"Ah…what kind are you looking for," she giggled and gestured with her hand toward the selection behind her. Her smile only widened.

Lunaire rubbed the back of his head. "Instead of looking for, I am actually selling one on behalf of my friend."

"Is that so…In that case, our shop also accepts goods as well. Provided that you can meet our demand." Bina thrust out her ample asset and raised her chin high.

Lunaire chuckled at her endearing display of pride in her shop. Inwardly, he felt quite troubled. With only one sweep of his eyes, he risked sounding arrogant in his assessment, but their selection was only so-so. While excellent made for daily uses, the item hidden in his inventory was a completely different animal altogether. He highly doubted that this shop could handle it.

Briefly cupping his chin and mumbling to himself, he groaned and finally give up. His exhausted mind struggled to strain out any polite way to inform her, so he pulled up his inventory and let Alice's handiwork speak for itself.

In a spectacular display, strands and specks of seemingly solid light coalesced into a human-shaped figure. Bina shielded her eyes from the light, which promptly vanished as suddenly as it appeared. Before the silver-haired magician, a gown appeared along with the mannequin.

Tailored in a completely different style than the conventional standard, the gown featured no puffy sleeves, opting to display the shoulders of the wearer. Cutting the shape of an hourglass, the dress emphasized the bodyline without appearing too vulgar. Rather than the voluminous skirt, it had a refreshing looking narrow skirt.

From the chest down to the hem of the skirt ran a gradient of color from midnight blue to bright aqua blue. Made from the fabric Bina had never seen before, the gown gleamed with glossy luster while appearing lighter than a feather. Blue and silver thread embroidery added exquisiteness to the entire complement.

A thin white and black sash wrapped around the waist, emphasizing the delicate figure of the wearer. Trailing from the little pins on the sash, laces of silvery pearls wrapped around the skirt, giving yet another dimension.

"Uh…"

"Um…"

"Ahem, without trying to be impolite, I simply want to know where in this city can take in this dress." Lunaire smiled awkwardly.

"Ahaha," Bina laughed awkwardly before faking a dry cough. "I totally understand. Rather, I must apologize. Please don't take my previous comment as an insult."

"No worry, miss. It was an honest mistake."

"The only place that can accept such a…gorgeous gown is the firm dealing with the aristocracy." She paused before looking straight into his purplish-blue eyes. "I have to admit that I am out of my element in this regard. Perhaps, my mother can help."

"By all means, please," he bowed politely.

"Mother!" Bina cupped her hands and bellowed into the interior of the shop.

A moment of silence followed. Then, Lunaire head a gentle creaking of the wood boards from further in. Craning his neck, he saw a lady descending the stair. Wearing a simple, light-weight dress with an apron, the middle-age madam spoke softly but authority.

"What is it, Bina? I thought I taught you all you need to handle a customer."

"If he is a normal customer, I will not have so much trouble." Bina winked mischievously at him as payback.

At her gesture, the madam gained a strange vigor in her steps. Quickly approaching, her grey eyes scrutinize Lunaire from the strands of his hair to the tips of his toes. She stared deeply into Lunaire's eyes. For some reason, he could have sworn that he saw the barely contained excitement in that tired pair of eyes.

"Good morning, madam. I came here to inquire whether there is any establishment around here that could take in this dress." Lunaire stepped back a little, allowing the new arrival a look toward the dress, previously concealed by the hanging rack and his body.

"I am sure we can…oh."

The madam fell silent. Rather than alleviating the tension, Lunaire felt a palpable pressure in the air as the grey eyes bore into the evening gown on the mannequin. He silently took a step back from the strange air emitted by the middle-age woman, slightly cowed by her fervor.

"Is this your handiwork?" The madam asked. "Of course not, ma'am. I am only responsible for the minor accessories that this entire dress is pretty much my friend's. Entrusting this piece to me, we hope to find a good owner for it."

Lunaire chuckled nervously. Something deep in his gut warned him to never say yes, not that he would ever take credit from Alice.

"Who is this friend of yours?"

"I am sorry, ma'am. My friend wishes to remain anonymous for now. Being pestered for a dress by nobility does not sound too appealing."

"Understandable…Young man," she paused.

"Yes?"

"The only establishment that can take this in is the Maihama Firm. They are based on Maihama City, but they have a local branch in Akiba. I suggest you take this there." The madam explained plainly.

Lunaire tilted his head and inquired, "only one?"

"While many local firms often deal with the nobility one way or the other, Maihama Firm is probably the only one that can give the most exposure and a direct route to the high society. If there is something that Maihama Firm doesn't lack, it is their funding and backing."

"Understood," Lunaire tried to utter a thank but the madam cut him off.

"Don't you dare just sell this thing off," she raised her finger at his face warningly. "Something of this caliber is worthy of a fight among the aristocracy."

Lunaire thrust out his chest and answered with mock haughtiness. "Of course, ma'am. If they refused to put this evening gown on the auction, I will personally travel to their headquarter to file a complaint."

"Oh, look at him! At least he got the spirit," Bina snickered.

"Make it so, young man."

The proprietress patiently informed him of the Maihama Firm's branch office. Lunaire fully exploited his setting as a newcomer and asked for any local interest in Akiba. Overall, the trip yielded a great result for him.

"Now then, I better be on my way. Is there a way I could repay you for your time?"

"Well," Bina craned her neck to her mother.

"If it is not too much to ask, can you tell us what type of fabric was used in this dress."

"I can certainly tell you that much. It is silk."

And thus, Lunaire regurgitated the technical details of silk, which was pretty much the only thing he bothered remembering, to the pair of mother and daughter. Since it was their trade, they listened with rapt attention, much to his pleasure.

Before he left, he stored the whole mannequin back into his inventory, shocking the madam with his status as an adventurer. Apparently, the people of the land had no access to the inventory system, another detail to commit to memory.

* * *

"Just where did you get all this."

"I have my source."

"We are not fenced you know."

"Ask yourself whether you think you can find something like this elsewhere."

Albertine Gilford, the head of the branch, grumbled. Silver boy, who popped out of blue, nailed it in the head. This display before him was a collection of novelty and ridiculousness that he could not help but concede.

The hourglass shape of the dress was maintained without the external corset. The interesting folds and embroidery made for an elegant and refreshing style that could no doubt influence the court fashion in the year to come. However, that was the least of the surprise.

Even a man as well-traveled and well-connected as Albertine, he had rarely seen such a glossy and smooth fabric that seemed to flow weightlessly on his hand. At times, the fabric also felt cold to the touch as if the wind caressed his rough hands. At must be silk, he thought but was not sure, having never seen any source that could produce such impeccable fabric. The gradient of the dye was also shocking well-made, emphasized by the light scattering off the flowing dress. Most likely, a fabric with this property could not be found on Yamato, or probably exclusive to a high-level dungeon.

Yet, nothing shocked him more than the quantity and the quality of the pearl. The nacre was thick. The clarity of the reflection was top-notch that he could see his beardy face on its surface. Such pearls could generally be found in the earrings and rings possessed by the high nobility. Out of many harvested pearls, few could reach this quality. Albertine was too frightened to imagine how much it might have cost to procure all this. There was no recent news of a large amount of jewelry stolen, so these were probably legitimate.

"So, auction?"

"Kiddo, if I say I will buy it for a flat price, I will be too ashamed to live." The large man chuckled in his seat, creaking the chair from the shifting weight.

Lunaire highly doubted that to be the case. There were people who would try to get away with whatever they could, and he knew Albertine too little to not discount him as such.

"What do you think will be the starting price?" Lunaire grinned widely, warning Albertine to pull no funny business.

"100,000 gold coins are the bare minimum. But," Albertine paused. "That is just the beginning of a war that will leave someone with a broken bank."

A grin naturally surfaced on Lunaire's face. "Now, we are talking sense…10 million?"

"Greedy aren't cha," Albertine wagged his finger in chastisement, but his grin made it not so persuasive. "Though you are probably right. That is the very most even the richest and the vainest aristocrat will spend for a dress, even one as exquisite as this. Maybe…8 million might be more reasonable."

"Not bad, if I do say so myself."

Suddenly, their eyes grew cold. They were friendly when discussing the size of the whole pie. That friendliness evaporated without a trace when it came to dividing up the pie, namely the commission. As an incentive to take in the items for auction, the house usually charged a percentage fee from the gross sale. The prismatic blue eyes locked straight with the hazel pairs in a contest for dominance. Seeing that none faltered, Albertine threw his dice first.

"Twent-"

"Say twenty and I leave," Lunaire responded with his most saccharine smile.

"O-of course not, I meant eighteen." The man grinned back, pretending that he meant eighteen all along, even if the first syllable was entirely different.

The silver-haired magician deadpanned and then blinked. A deliberately soft and slow chuckle escaped from his lips, rattling the nerve of the older merchant. "Ten."

"You must be joking." Albertine slammed his hand on the table in totally fake outrage. As a seasoned merchant, he knew that Lunaire honestly did not expect a deal to be struct at ten percent. In all honesty, he did not expect the whole twenty percent commission anyway. "No matter the quality of your goods, this is still the most prestigious auction house in Eastal."

"I can settle for second-best or third-best."

"Grr, fine! Fifteen, not going any lower than that."

"I thought I heard thirteen."

"Don't push your luck kid. Either you take fifteen or you have to walk to Maihama and find your own deal."

"Oh," a weak response followed. Neither raging nor submitting like expected, Lunaire's lukewarm reaction unnerved the bearded man. Lunaire then flicked his finger, tapping at the crystalline staff leaning on the sofa. Rather than a dry knock, the staff seemed to sing like a little bell from the tap.

"You forgot…I am an adventurer."

A markedly higher individual strength of an adventurer made a road trip to Maihama quite tolerable. Most high-level monsters kept away from the road while the small fries posed little threat. Since the auction was only a few days away, Albertine concluded that Lunaire would make it in time for the auction season with time to spare. Knowing that the hard approach did not work, he changed his gear.

"Kiddo. Think about it. Maihama Firm's auction house is the best you could get. The elites from Ducal families and other high nobles will prioritize our items. You might get a bigger cut from second-rate houses, but the whole pie will be smaller." Albertine made a circular gesture with his hand to demonstrate his point. His leveled voice showed his great experience in this matter.

If Lunaire continued to push bullishly, they would be stuck in a deadlock for the rest of the evening. Albertine seemed unwilling to part from the deal, yet would not allow the deal to past through on Lunaire's term. The situation hardly appealed to the magician.

"Hmm," Lunaire hummed. "Fine! Fifteen it is then."

"Great!" Albertine slapped his thigh and reached forward for a handshake.

"For a one-time deal," Lunaire reached his hand forward in response.

"Wait, what?" The soft muttering froze the large man in his track.

"Fifteen it is," Lunaire intentionally repeating the wrong phrase earned him the crossed look from the merchant. "For a one-time deal."

"Uh…I…" Albertine stuttered.

"Did you think that there are no more goodies where this," Lunaire emphasized by pointing at the dress, "came from?"

"You…might be right about hearing thirte-."

"My memory said twelve."

"…" Albertine took a long, deep breath.

"I am not pushing it down any further. I promise." Lunaire shook his hands innocently, weathering the glare from the older man.

At last, after a long contest of will, Albertine relented. He slumped back into the couch, sighed and covered his eyes with his giant palms. Lunaire did not miss the exhausted groan from the man.

"I need to discuss this with the president. Give me a few more days and I might have contract paperwork ready for you."

"What ensures that you follow the agreement on the contract?"

"Is this your first time doing a large business deal? Of course, it is a magical contract, signed by me. When the deal is a big one like this, the president needs to sign as well."

"The punishment?" Lunaire tilted his head.

"Oi, oi, you are not seriously considering that the Maihama Firm will cheat you." Albertine looked at Lunaire as if he had grown three more heads. "Whatever…if either party decided to break the agreement, the contract will exert a strong compulsion to follow the stipulations anyway."

"But can't you resist it."

"You technically can. But you, me and president do not have the level for it. My eyes can tell."

"Hmm, alright, but I am sending my people to supervise."

"Suit yourself, why don't cha." Then, a strange gleam appeared in Albertine's eyes. "To help speed the discussion along, can I make a sketch of this dress."

"Hahaha!" Lunaire laughed derisively. "And let you copy its design?"

"Tch," the merchant clicked his tongue annoyingly.

Albertine mumbled to himself that he needed a few kegs of ale as he escorted the magician out the heavy wooden door. He blocked the afternoon sun with his calloused hand and ushered Lunaire off.

"Well, see you later."

"Right, after all the trouble I went through. Don't disappear on me."

"Of course not," Lunaire snorted. "It's not just you who want the money."

"Damn straight brat," Albertine fired back.

Hearing a resounding thud, Lunaire walked away naturally. Since the business was concluded and neither party willing to get too chummy, he had nothing left to do here. Though frankly, he quite liked the giant for a business partner. Lunaire did not mind his rough mannerism and preferred it when the merchant did not constantly bootlick him.

Looking up, Lunaire sighed, satisfied that he managed to finish his agenda by early afternoon. He now had the rest of the afternoon for himself. Maybe he could get on the strange feeling in the forest from yesterday after a nice filling lunch, he thought.

Maihama Firm office located at a rather large street junction, right next to an overpass, overgrown with vegetation. The roof already was blown off by the elements, the concrete structure still looked solid to the eyes. Indulging his passing interest, Lunaire ascended the steps and treated himself to the view of one of Akiba's main streets.

Lunaire smiled gently. After taking a good look, the feral wilderness encroaching upon the modern city possessed a strange charm. The only thing detracting from the impression was the adventurers shambling about lifelessly like zombies.

Accidentally ruining his mood, he sighed intermittently as he made his way back to the mansion. The unfamiliar surrounding gave way for the familiar thoroughfare. As he neared the collapsed sign that marked the alleyway leading to the mansion, a voice called out to him.

"Hey! You were that guy from yesterday."

"Oh, hello there, that guy from yesterday." An unintentional sass slipped out.

The middle-aged man laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, I did not quite catch your name."

The first impression was crucial as people usually remember stranger by one key detail that stood out. For this man, Lunaire only remembered wondering the reason he wanted buckets of slime. The magician veered his head to the side, hiding the snicker from the fruit stall owner.

"Wait, this is not the point." Collecting himself, the man redoubled his vigor. "Don't you guys accept quest anymore?"

"I don't know about other people, but I still do if it interests me." Lunaire shrugged.

"You won't be accepting quest anymore too?"

Lunaire frowned and said, "I can't exactly hunt slime for you for the rest of my days."

"Oh, right…That reason, I can understand."

Instead of jumping into another tirade, the man calmed down considerably quickly. Lunaire thought that the man was used to it. The system in place upgraded the capability of the adventurers as they leveled up. Before long, hunting slimes for a handful of coins would hold little appeal. At most, an adventurer would repeat a task twice for the man before moving on. Though it begged the question.

A week and most adventurers would progress past the stage of hunting would the man rely on, Lunaire wondered?

Then again, this was hardly his business. He was not running a charity and had much bigger fish to fry. He might sometimes be a softie, but he was in no way an idealist. He possessed neither the power nor the desire to save everyone.

"Where will you get your slime gel then?" It did not hurt to ask, Lunaire thought.

Unfortunately, it had the unintended side effect of evaporating most of the sympathy he felt for the man. Apparently, the hunters', ran by the Landers, sold most low-level monster parts. It would simply cost a slight bit more than directly asking the adventurers. Rather than a pure necessity, their service was simply highly preferred. Lunaire was not sure how big of a cut, but he figured the business would survive for the foreseeable as the man did not look too desperate.

"Anyway, what is this about adventurers not accepting the quest?" Not wasting an opportunity to fish for information, Lunaire asked anyway.

"None of the adventurers is interested in taking a quest anymore. I gave some of them a holler, but they simply pass right by. Those were the nicest one. Don't get me started on the ones that aren't. You should have seen how they look at me, scoffing and muttering something about damn en-pee-see!"

NPCs or Non-Player-Characters was another jargon Lunaire learned. Apparently, some idiots still believed that this world was the matrix. How lovely, Lunaire thought snidely.

If anyone hadn't noticed yet, the real world did not exactly have a continue button, nor was there any easy mode either. This universal law was not a new realization as Lunaire lived it. If these adventurers still treated their current lives like in a game, they would be in for a rude awakening…before the oblivion took them.

In an ironic twist of fate, it was Lunaire who was in for a rude awakening. For in this world, at least when adventurers were concerned, people did not die when they were killed.

* * *

_**Zone: Archive Forest Tower**_

It all started just because Lunaire wanted to do some leveling. Understanding the plight of magicians with insufficient mana reserve, he thoughtfully invited Alice and Marisa with him to share in the bounty. The two should be able to handle themselves, he thought.

As the one with larger reserve, he maintained magic barriers around them, voiding the chance that a stray arrow taking them out. In this part of the zone, closer to the city, the monsters were slightly under-leveled. He could easily baby the two. Oh, boy was he wrong.

"Damn," Lunaire cursed underneath his breath. "Get back, green skins! Burn!"

A blue brilliance flared before the torrent of flame enveloped the wide swath of woodland before him. Even if the trees in late spring still packed plenty of moisture, the flame indiscriminately reduced all caught within to ash.

As the azure conflagration faded to a more natural red-hot flame, Lunaire saw a handful of stragglers lucky enough to avoid the worst of the fire. Crawling on the dirt, they struggled to regain their feet with whatever life remained in them, no doubt preparing another reckless assault. Streams of colorful light gushed out from behind him, sending them back to the ground for good.

Unfortunately, that was not the end. Lunaire's spell only burned the enemies in front. Those around the flanks got off scot-free. A barrage of arrows peppered the ground around him. He lazily dodged as needed.

His sense homed in on the brightest spot on his mana sense. By then, words already rolled off his mouth. "Both of you, pin them down." He pointed to the left.

Alice and Marisa followed without question. Shanghai led her fellow dolls into the fray, spraying countless colorful bullets at the goblins. The monsters duck and sought cover, but the flying menace would not allow them a reprieve, constantly chipping at their HP. At some point, the goblins tried to retaliate with their stone cleavers and crude bows. Needless to say, the dolls were too high, too small and too nimble for any of those to be effective.

Yet, there was a limit to what mere five dolls could do. Some of the smarter ones decided to break cover and make for the two girls. Marisa caught on quickly and blasted them with her magic beam, boring through some while severely scalding the others. For those that got uncomfortably close, a barrage of star-shaped bullets sent them flying back.

Seeing that their few brethren managed to reach the two magicians raised the goblin's morale. Those armed with melee weapons began charging toward the two, disregarding Shanghai entirely. Marisa's screen could not hope to stop them.

The two magicians locked eyes briefly before they respectively withdrew an item from their inventory. Marisa rubbed the small clay bottle in her hand, while Alice poured her mana in the strange doll in her hand.

When the goblins cross an invisible threshold, Alice sprung to action, throwing the doll in her hand with all her strength. The doll flew true, straight into the front of their group and exploded. The goblins survived but knocked off their feet. To the disoriented goblin, Marisa had a gift. When the clay bottle shattered among them, the content spilled and burst into searing azure flame.

On the other side, Lunaire contended with another group. Led by a shaman, the goblins appeared more coordinated. Their vanguard spread into two wings, aiming to surround him. A crude but effective plan if only because of his low reserve.

Then again, the shaman made a stupid move of walking into his line of sight. Although Lunaire had many options in his prime to target enemies without visual, it was quite problematic in his current state. So, it was quite gracious of the shaman.

A quick mumble and a small sphere of flame appeared. The blue flame billowed eerily, flickering left and right as Lunaire maneuvered away from the arrows. Growing brightly, the sphere bolted out. By the time the shaman noticed it, the bolt had arrived. With no defensive spell in place, the bolt pierced its hide with ease and then exploded. Packing enough mana to efficiently take out even the largest goblin let alone a lanky shaman, so he exploded spectacularly in a shower of gore. There was no kill like overkill. He just needed their leader gone.

"Flashbang," Lunaire mumbled with a grin. Reisen would shiver if she heard this word as it was her bane during their spar.

Just like its namesake, the bolt of this spell would detonate and stun the enemies with bright light and concussive blast. However, unlike a conventional flashbang explosive, the spell could be launched accurately and en masse.

Five pure white wisps spawned and circled protectively around his staff. Rather than launching it at his enemies, he charged into melee. Lobbing the wisps before swooping in, he butchered them to the last.

"You say this is not normal, right?" The crisp voice rang behind him.

"Absolutely not."

"That was a riot, ze." Marisa saw Lunaire looking at her crossly. "But I sure don't want to face this again…for the third time."

"So much for 'at most a dozen at a time,'" Alice quoted his earlier reassurance.

"More like thirty assorted monsters, ze!"

Just as Marisa said, they encountered unnaturally large numbers of monsters. During yesterday hunt, the six members often found only a dozen of monsters to tango at once. In contrast, the three-faced unceasing combat ever since they entered the area. Dozens upon dozens of goblins, Briar Weasels, and other monsters threw themselves upon them.

It was as if the monsters were attracted to their group, a worrying possibility. Taking no chances, Lunaire immediately requested support from Reisen's group hunting in the area.

A flash of lilac burst out from the tree line. "We are here!"

"A little late but appreciate it." Lunaire waved.

A high pitch childish voice teased. "What is wrong, Lunaire? Can't handle some goblins?"

"You can say that when you don't have like…thirty of them running at you!"

"And you said it as if that was a bad thing," Remilia tilted her head.

Lunaire opened his mouth to retort, but his words went unsaid. Remilia had a point. While the monsters being drawn to them en-mass might seemed horrible, it played to the objective of raising their level as swiftly as possible.

He changed his tune, proposing to drop Alice and Marisa back at the city before continuing with the hunt. However, Patchouli quickly noted that the two might be the key to drawing in the monsters. Since when Lunaire fought with them yesterday, they did not struggle with the torrent of monsters.

"All of us should go in a little deeper. We don't need to fight the strongest monsters we can take, only the middling ones will do."

Not updated on their progress in the morning, Lunaire inquired. "What are your and the monsters' levels?"

"Ours are around 28 and 29, while theirs were around mid to upper thirties," Reisen replied.

Unknown to them, the other players would have labeled them lunatics to even consider enemies more five levels above their own as middling. And what would they have to say about calling a mid-forties level monsters interesting challenge?

"Fourteen," Lunaire pointed to the blonds beside him.

"That's awfully fast," Remilia blinked cutely.

"Thanks to them," Lunaire pointed at the devastation before him. He expended quite a bit of mana, so it was only proper. "But there is something strange."

"Shoot," Reisen replied.

"Unlike what Lunaire said, the EXP points from his kills were not shared with us. We only leveled up through our own kill in the beginning, quite difficult." Alice explained.

"Our party EXP sharing is working just fine, right?" Remilia tilted her head toward Sakuya, who nodded in confirmation.

"I…might have an explanation for that," Lunaire paused. "But it is quite a long story. Can we save it for after the hunt?"

Remilia shrugged. "Why not? If you believe it is not important now, then it can wait."

Lunaire smiled, feeling a little warm from the implicit trust in her words. She may be childish at times, but she knew what to say to cheer him up.

"So, how about this? You guy take a quick break, while I get Alice and Marisa a little more level. Just 18 to be safe." Lunaire then grinned. "Then we go to have some fun."

"Good decision, make it so!" Remilia ordered with mock haughty, high pitch voice.

Somehow, Lunaire sympathized with the monsters. No doubt, the strange attraction they felt toward his party was a game mechanic. If he had to guess, it was implemented to prevent the high-level players from killing strong enemies while letting weaker players leach off their effort. Doing so would make leveling up too convenient to be fair. Perhaps as a punishment or deterrent, the monsters aggressively swarmed their party, hopefully taking out said strong players or the leaches.

Ironically, the rule preventing loophole could, in turn, be exploited to a gross degree, drawing hordes of monsters toward the adventurers ready to meet them. Finally, the rules of this strange world worked to their favor.

* * *

During their enjoyable time purging monster and charring the verdant landscape in the process, something resonated with Lunaire sense. Demanding his attention, Lunaire made a note to trace down the feeling later. He knew better to not wander off by himself when hordes of monsters constantly made a play for their lives.

His opportunity came soon after when Alice's and Marisa's level caught up to where the world decided not to punish-slash-indulge them anymore. Yellow sunlight shifted toward orange, but they still had some time before night fell. The feeling also led them slightly closer toward Akiba, generally meant safer area. Their level boost and lack of monster swarms to contend with guaranteed a good safety margin.

Despite the winding maze of trees and ruined buildings, Lunaire led the way confidently. Like a lighthouse to his mana sense, mere foliage could not deter him. As the group crested over the small hill, Lunaire mumbled.

"Now, this certainly is not what I expected to find."

Before their eyes was a clearing, littered with boulders of various sizes, dotted with some mushrooms and plants. The chirping birds and critters frolicking about made the area quite suitable for a picnic.

"Well, would you look at this, a mana spot…" Remilia chimed excitedly, but then her expression quickly soured. "But this is not something to write home about. Definitely not worth bringing all of us."

Remilia had a point as a few of them nodded along with her. To the mana sensitive individuals, the place radiated subdued power, strong enough to be noticed but hardly adequate for a serious magician. If Lunaire truly needed a power spot, constructing a large array back at the mansion would be more worthwhile.

Patchouli, the only one who stared deeply at the boulders, rubbed her chin in thought. Lunaire glanced at her appreciatively. She realized that there was more than meet the eyes, an impressive feat given that her research had nothing to do with it. Though it did not stop him from teasing her a little.

"You are making quite a difficult expression."

"Do you know what this is?" Rightly, she confidently implied that this was not an ordinary power spot.

"A treasure trove for me. This thing in front of me should propel my research for about five decades or so."

"So important," Alice's eyes widened in surprise. She extended her mana sense toward the not power spot, all the while asking, "But that does not explain what it is."

"It is no wonder all of you don't recognize it," Lunaire spoke understandingly. "It is something more prominent in the occident, specifically Europe."

Glancing toward Remilia and Patchouli, he resisted the urge to snicker. Remilia sported a cute pout like a child being made light of. Patchouli, on the other hand, he could see the gears turning furious in her head, rifling through the literature and her memories.

Before her brain overheated, Lunaire answered, "Fairy Ring."

"Ah." A light bulb lit up above Patchouli's head. Analyzing its property could benefit his research greatly. Unfortunately, Fairy Ring did not exist in Gensokyo. No wonder his giddiness, she thought.

Seeing that he had just lost most of his audiences, Lunaire cleared his throat. "I will take this on a tangent but bear with me. Have you ever wondered how some sages got to the moon and became Lunarians in the first place?"

"Rocket," Remilia said jokingly.

Even while knowing that it was a jest, the rest could not hold their laughter. Lunarians possessed the most advanced technology and magical knowledge existed and build the most advanced civilization known. For them to use such an inefficient method like rocket seemed so comically uncharacteristic.

"It is based on quantum theories that had just begun to crop up in the outside world. In short, most events are possible and anything that can happen will happen eventually. While you might think that you can't simply walk through the wall, there is an astronomically small chance it can happen. There are complex explanations for that but believe me. If you try it for eons upon eons, you will eventually pass through."

"I have heard something about that," Reisen chimed up. "The first Lunarians came to the moon by exploiting the minute probability that somehow the creatures from earth find their way to the moon."

"So, they got there by dumb luck? Like your magic?" Meiling asked.

"Similar to my magic, but not luck. My magic is not luck, China!" For some reason, Meiling could not help but label his magic as luck, even though it had nothing to do with it. He held back his building tirade and continued. "It is the manipulation of probability. It like changing the dice throw form 12-sided to 6-sided. It is more likely to get the highest number on 6-sided dice, yes?"

The rest nodded, although Meiling looked a little lost. He sighed and continued.

"As to why this is important, there is a possibility that two distant locations can be entangled, allowing a quick shortcut like Yukari's gap. Through some freak coincidence, the stars, topography and various other factors align and suddenly you can cross continents in mere seconds. This connection is transient and possibly is the cause of various spirited away incidents in the west. The unfortunate victims might wander into another continent entirely before the connection broke down."

"However, if the connection is stabilized with local features," Patchouli gestured toward the boulders, arranged into a haphazard circle. "Then, the Fairy Ring, a permanent gap is created."

Lunaire nodded. "Using it, you can travel to the location connected to this Fairy Ring almost instantaneously."

"That sounds too…convenient," Alice said hesitantly.

"Agreed," Marisa nodded.

"Right, for something so convenient, why is there no record about it? Why is no one using it constantly? Establishing a cross-continental trade route will be a breeze with Fairy Rings." Remilia asked in disbelief that such a thing can go unexploited. Some humans would use anything they found even without complete understanding if the benefits outweighed the risks.

"It is not that easy. They are rare, to say the least, so there are barely any records about them," Seeing that Remilia was about to argue, Patchouli answered. "Even if you managed to find one, it is quite difficult to use."

"Firstly, the connection is not always open. Most people cannot predict when the ring is usable, let alone create a timetable to facilitate regular travel. Secondly, most Fairy Rings are connected to multiple other rings. On one day or even minute, it might send you to India, and the other, China. Most disastrous of all is when the ring is not connected to another Fairy Ring, forming a one-way connection to god-knows-where. That is why no one wanted to risk exploring these freak anomalies."

There were many other limitations, but Lunaire cut his explanation short, not wanting to bore his audience. Suffice to say that even the foolhardiest preferred admiring the anomalies from a safe distance. The daredevils that tried became irrelevant.

"That is quite a shame. It could have been so useful in getting places," Patchouli sighed.

"Maybe we should worry about our immediate surroundings, ze. It's not as if we have to go somewhere too urgently." Marisa shrugged.

"It is always good to know the tools at your disposal."

"You want to use that thing. Even with all the problems, you have listed." Marisa turned and looked and the silver-haired man incredulously.

"But, don't we have an expert on probability manipulation over here?" Pointing at himself, he grinned smugly. "It would take some time. Maybe a week, but I am confident it will be worth it down the line."

Alice giggled. "Isn't it just because you want to study it?"

"I may or may not have such motivation." He laughed but quickly came down from his glee. "On a more serious note, I think we still have a more serious matter to attend to, namely the fact that one mansion is tearing itself apart."

"It is great that you haven't forgotten, but it is not good to hold yourself back unnecessarily." Remilia chastised. "A party can accommodate six and we have eight, including you. Since our baiting strategy is no longer working, there is no problem leaving one to guard you."

"Then, I have a better idea. Why don't we just camp out here?" Marisa jumped up cheerfully. "I mean, we should plenty strong to survive a night in a zone closer to the city like this one."

This sounded a chorus of agreement. The loudest voice came from Remilia who seemed excited to explore this world at night. Reisen chuckled and began planning. Magic could conjure up water. But they needed food and seasoning that they could trust not to kill them. Also, sleeping in conjured dirt huts might be pushing it. Therefore, someone had to return to the city with their spoils of war to trade.

* * *

"Are you sure that they only have meat? No vegetables at all, really?" For once, Sakuya reminded them how interrogative she could be.

"Meat, meat, meat, all they have is meat. No matter how many stalls we went to in the entire marketplace, vegetables are completely out of stock," Reisen complained. After visiting the market, their inventories were filled with camping gears and meat from animals with strange names.

Lunaire smiled wryly from the rabbit grumbling. Normal rabbits were herbivores, but somehow their youkai counterparts became omnivores, capable of eating most thing human could. They retained some fondness for vegetables though, so her dismay was understandable.

"Apparently, the adventurers scoured the marketplace for all the vegetables," Lunaire added.

Personally, he did not mind too much, already having craving for unhealthy, meaty dish anyway. Sakuya was quite particular about the balanced diet. Now, the adventurers gave him a proper excuse, so he was not complaining. He looked forward to the sizzling meat skewers and steak for dinner.

"You look quite happy about this," the maid glanced at him.

"Hehe, I have my cravings sometimes. It's not as if I am lying about having no vegetables."

Laying out various jars of seasonings and sauces for Sakuya to work her magic, Lunaire smiled innocently. The maid only smiled wryly in response to the happiness gleaming in his eyes.

The marketplace did not have fresh vegetables, but the cold storage back at the mansion certainly did. Reisen honestly forgot about it, since she sincerely liked vegetables. As for Lunaire, Sakuya wondered whether this lapse of memory was intentional. She giggled softly from her speculation and busied herself marinating the meat.

"Oh, I am liking this already!" Marisa laughed heartily when a small wooden cylinder materialized and plopped beside Lunaire.

It need not be said that the liquid sloshing around in the cedar barrel was the finest quality Sake, from one of the more exclusive Youkai breweries. Even Meiling who sat the furthest could smell the flowery aroma that seeped into the wood and salivated slightly. Reserved for special occasions, this Sake came in a smaller cask. Perhaps for the better because the topics for their dinner discussion would be quite difficult to digest. Lunaire wanted the alcohol to ease the talk along, not for them to get completely hammered.

"Oh, for what occasions, commemorating our second day here?" Remilia asked.

"You can take it like that. However, I think it is more like a fitting end for a very, very long day." Lunaire's shoulders sagged as he leaned back into the boulder.

"Is this about the long, long story you mentioned in the afternoon?" Remilia teased.

"A long story would be an understatement," Lunaire sighed heavily. "I don't even know where to start."

"Let's start with what you know for sure, before we follow with your speculation," Patchouli's curiosity urged her to take the initiative.

"We are on the 'far' side of Mars…"

"…"

That was it, he could already imagine them yelling in their minds. Lunaire mustered his most deadpan expression available to him. Apparently, such facial expression was quite contagious as the rest adopted identical faces.

A discussion dragged on into the night with many attempts by Reisen to check whether Lunaire was hallucinating or drunk or both. Their confusion for the workings of this world escalated as words rolled off his tongue. Just like them, Lunaire also wished he could just unhear every disconcerting detail and pretended that everything was fine and dandy. However, such was not the way of a magician and would be a great detriment to their mission.

Lunaire wrapped up his report near midnight. His explanation which should have taken at most a few hours over dinner was extended to clarify all basic concepts not know to the more ancient beings. Describing a computer to someone born in the 1500s was a trying ordeal.

"So, in short…We are on Mars."

"Yes," Lunaire nodded firmly.

"The so-called People of the Lands and monsters were the natural inhabitants of this world."

"Yes," he nodded again with a little doubt this time.

"The adventurers are like Shikigami controlled by the people in the outside world on earth."

"In a way…yes." While Remilia could not completely grasp the concept of a computer in such a short time, he appreciated the fitting analogy.

"They used a certain device to control this Shikigami to play around in this world for entertainment. Due to unexplainable cause," Sakuya paused briefly. "They are now stuck permanently on this side in their Shikigami."

"Yes, their consciousnesses are now on this side." Lunaire felt the need to elaborate. He could not ascertain whether they were controlling their bodies like in a dream or their souls crossed to this side completely.

"And this system or interface or whatever is a mechanic or framework to play the game." Marisa continued.

"…That is uncertain. As I said before…"

"It might be something native or added in when the adventurers came to this world," Alice corrected in his stead. "Or rather, when someone created a connection to allow the adventurers avatar to manifest on this world."

Reisen continued this string of questions, wrapping up everything they knew. "Which in turns, suggest that someone on Earth is aware of our presence here…And that certain someone might have the capability to rewrite the fundamental rules of this world."

"When you say a long story, this is not what I expected," Marisa mumbled as she downed her next cup of Sake.

Lunaire lied down on his side and stretched out, feeling the tiredness of the day hitting him all at once. "Sleep on it or something."

"How can you sleep after hearing that?" Marisa asked incredulously.

"There is nothing we can do, in the short term at least." It was Reisen who answered curtly. "For now, we need to get ourselves established. Then we can start looking through the history of this world. From there, we can uncover what exactly is the deal with the adventurers and who sent them here."

Lunaire stared up to the starry sky. "That is still a way off. We need to investigate all the threats to us first, namely the monsters and the nobility."

"Especially the nobility," Remilia added

"We can't discount the monsters just yet. The ones we have encountered thus far should not problematic to any youkai worth their salt, but something like wyverns and drakes might be more…" Lunaire chewed his lips for a good word. "Gnarly."

"We need access to a local archive. Only then can we find information about Theldesia without having to run around the world personally." Patchouli asserted.

Marisa plopped on her back and sighed. "So much thing to do, ze!"

"Also, Lunaire…" He perked up with the strange tone that Reisen called him with.

"Yes?"

"Come help us set up the tents."

"Tch, I thought I gave you a slip," Lunaire pouted.

Contrary to popular belief, setting up tents were not much of a hassle. Though this applied only to those with magic at their disposal. The stakes, poles, and canvas essentially set themselves up with a brief gesture from their hands, another convenience not allowed to normal adventurers.

00000

And there you go.

Can you guess why I introduced the Fairy Ring? If you are familiar with Log Horizon lore, you will know what it is, but maybe not why I included it.

I dumped a lot of information in this chapter, but I tried to avoid the dreaded text wall. Hopefully, I succeeded. I felt that it was more realistic for the Touhou casts to discover this in a step-by-step process, thus the need to include it in.

Also, some of you might be curious why Alice and Marisa are okay with butchering swath of monsters. In my Mahouka story (their personalities are the same, slightly less mature in Mahouka), the two had trouble killing any human. The reason is simply that they viewed the monsters as a bastardized version of Gensokyo's fairies crossed with youkai. The fairies in Touhou are basically weak elementals, which are essentially immortal. You can kill them, but they will come back. Just like how the monsters kept respawning. Killing monsters are more or less exterminating youkai and fairies to them.

If you are wondering why I introduced a few Landers characters, I wanted the world to feel more alive and feel that they are underutilized. Apparently, the Landers are very rich. Who could have known? It's not like Plant Hwyaden is letting the nobility fund their entire operation, including buying out Cathedral and other facilities.

I won't introduce them too excessively though. You should keep an eye out on Albertine Gilford though. I know for sure that he will be a recurring character.

Unfortunately, I will be turning my attention back to my Touhou x Mahouka crossover for now. This story is not abandoned but will be like a side project when I encounter a writer's block on my main story. For the people who had been waiting for this…

Rejoice! Boy/girl, your wish is about to come true!


	4. Chapter 4: Business Ventures 1

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

I hope you guys missed me. For some reason, I got a lot of ideas for this story, so I wrote it out before it got drowned out by my research. Not going to lie, I feel that graduate school is slowly eating into my life. I can't even play my game in peace without wondering whether I mixed the chemical right.

Well, I hope you enjoy this one.

00000

_**A week later…**_

Takayama Misa, or referred to affectionately by the member of her guild as Sansa or Major, read out her summarized report. Her face appeared stoic and reliable as ever, the likes that would be any drill sergeant proud. But on the inside, her heart felt terribly lost.

Mere days ago, she led a normal life as a kindergarten teacher. Her work could be backbreaking at times, especially when compounded with shenanigans children caused. The only saving grace being that the parents were rather accommodating, highly unusual in her line of work. Her burden was no more than any other faced in the game of life.

Yet, her predictable lifestyle all came tumbling down faster than she could blink. It should have been a normal gaming session. She was excited to see what new updates had to offer. Just like that, she unceremoniously became Sansa.

Who was Sansa? One of the Three Crows leading D.D.D., an impeccable strategist that her people looked to for guidance, these were a few roles that described her. An identity Misa forged as her hobby became something that she had to live with, not mere temporarily retreat from her real-life responsibility.

The change in role from a kindergarten teacher to something akin to a military leader was so abrupt. It scared her.

However, at the same time, her identity in the guild also served as an anchor for her. In her mind, having a purpose to fulfill kept her mind preoccupied, and away from the sheer incomprehensible situation she found herself in. She just had to keep focus and play along. One day, she would adapt.

Though in some dark recess of her mind, she wondered whether she could return to be a simple kindergarten teacher after she fully embraced this side.

"…And that concludes my report on the matter."

Regardless of the inner turmoil that plagued her for the past week, she succinctly summarized the reports from various recon squads sent into the wilderness. She had a duty to fulfill and she would do it, for herself and as an example to the others that looked up to her.

"Excellently done as always, Sansa. Thank you for your effort," Krusty propped his chin up. His bespectacled eyes never left the lady beside him.

The other member might not notice it, but how could Krusty not? His eyes were a discerning pair, fitting for his calculative mind. To him, Misa's turmoil was almost palpable. But he elected to leave it alone. Not only was such a problem best worked out on her own, he still needed a little grease to ease into his role in Elder Tale.

"I want those zones secured before nightfall."

Misa nodded and answered firmly. "It will be done. But, milord, I still have to stress that such a heavy-handed move will not be perceived well by the other guilds." In the end, Misa's greyish eyes bored straight at Krusty's.

Krusty chuckled deeply, his eyes flashing a predatory glint. "Someone will snatch it up sooner or later. Rather than being the one grumbling when that happens, we might as well snag the juicy bits first."

Not all zones were created equal in Elder Tales. Many zones possessed their unique charms and features to be explored, but most did not have the quality it took for hardcore players to stick around. For the hardcore players, it was all about the experience points and item drops. Many factors went into these two goals, spawning locations, the favorable terrains and drop rates to name a few. Hence, some zones were inherently more valuable.

As an invested player himself, Krusty could list of a few such zones off the top of his head. Though he mostly remembered the higher-leveled zones, he recalled a select few that could be exploited conveniently from Akiba. With the juicy targets found, Krusty did anything reasonable players would do and pounced on it.

"How can monopolizing these low-leveled zones be worth our reputation?" Misa spoke politely but with a hint of disapproval. She slipped back to the stern tone she used to lecture children.

"We have a large influx of new members, don't we? We need somewhere to train them." Krusty grinned lightly, finding a little humor in being lectured in such tone. "Haha, we might need training ourselves to familiarize ourselves with the combat system."

"…" Misa narrowed her eyes, rightfully suspecting that her master was scheming.

Krusty's grin grew as Misa begun to catch on. A predatory glint flashed across his eyes. "With these zones in our hands, it will provide the smaller guilds more incentive to join our guild. There is no such thing as too much manpower after all."

So, that was what he truly wanted, Misa concluded. Krusty usually shied away from taking risky actions without profit. Consolidating their place as the largest and arguably most powerful guild after their transfer could not be passed up.

"Though you are right, Sansa. Do tell our men to be less…aggressive when staking our claim. We are, after all, looking out for our lower-leveled members first and foremost. Coercing people to join our guild is just the side benefit."

Misa wanted to quip that Krusty seemed too gleeful mentioning mere side benefit, but that was not her place to say.

"Now that the heavier stuff is out of the way. Do you have anything else?"

"Nothing…actually there might be." Misa flipped to one page on her clipboard. "About one of the zones you wished secured, there seems to be a strange report concerning Archive Magic Forest."

"Hmm, I thought there is no problem in your earlier report."

"Rather than a problem, it is more of an unconfirmed report. If not because two squads mentioned something remotely similar, I would not even hear of this detail."

Misa referred to the subordinates sifting through the raw reports from the field. They were the ones making her life easier.

"Now, you have my curiosity." Krusty crossed his fingers.

"It appears that some areas of the forest were severely burned."

"Burned?"

"Yes, only ash remains. Some burned areas are small patches, while the other is the size of a soccer field."

Since Elder Tale became a reality, the possibility of forest fire could not be discounted. But this was not the season. Krusty had no idea what season they arrived in. However, he went on a few strolls to see the impenetrable sea of green beyond the Akihabara's perimeter wall. Fresh leaves needed a lot more heat to start burning, so he immediately ruled out natural caused.

Furthermore, the section of the trees scorched was reported as geometric, like cones or circular shape. Forest fire would not be so artistic in its wake.

"Do you this is the part of the new expansion?"

"My lord, we are not sure at this point." Misa shook her head. "Since the game became real, this could just be one of the phenomena not shown in-game or it could be a sign for an event."

"Are these littered throughout the zone?"

"No, we found these mostly toward the edge of the zone, away from Akiba."

Krusty rested his head on his hands. "Hmm, do they find anything that could be the cause nearby? An exotic new material, perhaps?"

"Nothing of that sort."

"Interesting, fascinating even," Krusty lowered his gaze, obscuring his eyes from his adjutant. Yet, Misa could already picture what kind of expression her leader was sporting. "A field boss appearing right out of the gate is quite the welcome gift."

"Yet, it can also be other players. My lord surely had not forgotten. We…by that I meant the adventurers, can now interact with the environment."

If this was still a game, such thought would be preposterous. Massively multiplayer accommodated more than a million players, most of which did not join at the same time. To standardize the experience amongst such player base, the environment of the game was mostly kept constant. The players were not permitted to alter scenery and reshape terrain permanently. However, given that the game became a reality for them, such limitation may be lifted.

Following her line of thought, Krusty asked the first question that popped into his mind. "What is the point of burning down a random swath of the forest, then?"

Misa nodded, acknowledging his point. There was no conceivable reason to randomly burn down a forest, so it was most likely something from the new update. "I suggest diverting personnel to ascertain the situation. With luck, you might find new area boss that you so wish."

"That does sound like a superb idea."

Misa chuckled softly. "My lord, do not get your hope up too much. An area near adventurer town is unlikely to provide a worthy challenge for you."

"It will be a shame if that is the case, but I won't mind being the first to claim its head."

Misa smiled wryly to see that side of him remained perfectly intact. Contrasting to his calm and collected exterior, he personified his Berserker class to the tee in combat. She nodded curtly and dismissed herself.

* * *

A little less than an hour away on foot, another individual was also utterly fascinated with his findings. Rather than finding something challenging to maim for the Blood God, however, Lunaire pursued a more intellectual path. After scrawling the last incomprehensible symbols into his notes, he slammed his quill onto the page. Not caring that he had almost snapped his favorite golden nibs, he snapped up from his hunched posture and breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"Finally, some breakthrough?"

"No, even better," Lunaire mumbled as he turned to the blond, nursing his throbbing temple.

Alice tilted her head quizzically, wondering what could be better than a breakthrough and cause such relief. Since setting up the camps many days ago, Lunaire's routine consisted of eating, sleeping and scribbling furiously onto his notes. Like a possessed man, he rarely spared a word to chat. Only on rare occasions like monsters raiding their camp did he break this monotony. This antic would have worried Alice greatly if not for the fact that he warned her.

"I am done?" The sentence left his lips as a question with mixed surprise and uncertainty.

"Wait, you are?" Alice scanned her eyes toward the Fairy Ring, only the see the same old boring groups of boulders. "Aren't these supposed to be extremely complex?"

"They should be, but they are not."

"That's great then."

"Hmm, it is great that I can wrap this up earlier. But sadly, I didn't learn too much from it." Lunaire sighed softly.

"At least you did not waste too much time on it then."

"No, I did not waste any time on it." Lunaire stood up from the mat, straightening to his full height. He rolled his shoulders, driving away the cramps. "It is not useful for research, but I believe we might gain something far more valuable in return."

Lunaire had an inkling before, but the result confirmed it. The Fairy Ring was an artificial construct. It was too simple. By nature, Fairy Ring depended on multitudes of variables like astronomical events, geography and many more. The calculation should have looked messy beyond compare, but it did not. Like well-composed music, it flowed orderly from beginning to finish

Furthermore, the natural Fairy Ring was also documented as highly erratic and unreliable. It could connect to China in one moment, and India in the next. The connection broke and reformed in minutes and even seconds. But the one before him and its network showed stability in a way that natural Fairy Ring never could

It should have taken weeks of unceasing effort to completely examine one ring, but the factors above made the numbers played out very nicely. It went so well that Lunaire managed to elucidate the property of not only one ring, but countless others as well. Perhaps one of his most important discoveries, Lunaire cracked the rules of Fairy Ring on Theldesia, a legacy that would echo in the ages to come.

Each Fairy Ring was connected to at least 2 other rings. At any given time, the ring would be connected to one of its possible destinations for a few hours to days, before switching to another.

An example would be a system of three Fairy Rings connecting Tokyo, Hokkaido, and Kyoto. For the next three hours, the rings between Tokyo and Hokkaido would be linked. During that period, adventurers from Tokyo and Hokkaido could jump into their respective ring to appear in the other. On the other hand, the Kyoto ring would be inactive. After those three hours, the new connection would be formed. Which two rings get picked and for how long appeared randomized but was based on extremely complicated calculations that Lunaire drew up.

This connection was not a hard and fast rule though. Even if the current destination was known, there was a minute chance to be sent to the inactive ring.

Continuing the example above, the connection may be between Tokyo and Hokkaido, but there was a minute chance one might be thrown to Kyoto. The probably lied between one or two in a thousand cases. Lunaire liked the odds, however, only because adventurers could always count on Call of Home to return from a missed jump.

Yet, there was even the worst possibility. There was around one in a few million chances of a disastrous jackpot that would send one to any Fairy Ring in the world. For that special unlucky bastard stepping into Tokyo ring, he or she may receive an unwanted one-way ticket to Siberia or Alaska.

The reason this could happen was that all Fairy Rings were connected in a gigantic network. The rings in Tokyo, Hokkaido, and Kyoto massively favor each other, but there was an infinitesimally small chance one of them may connect with another outside of its favored partners.

Rather than this being a bad thing…

"Thus, there is a non-zero probability for any Fairy Rings to connect to any other ring in the world."

Alice's eyes widened incredulously. "Which means that we can go to whichever ring we so please."

For a magician reigning over probability manipulation, there could be no greater gift. As long as it was possible, the odds could be twisted to his favor. With this one discovery, Lunaire just threw open the gate to the whole world.

"Make no mistake, it will be costly on my mana. But…I have confidence that I can muster the sum after leveling up a bit more." Lunaire raised his hand to hold back her excitement. "Hmm, just when things are getting good."

"Yes," Alice reigned in her expression.

A few presences tripped the net their mana senses cast. Keeping their surveillance at all times, the two caught the interlopers at a comfortable distance that their conversations should remain unheard. Silence persisted a while before the armored silhouette came into view.

Ideally, the two magicians would have scooped their camps into their inventory before hiding close by. However, they decided to meet the newcomer head-on for a few reasons.

The contacts on their mana sense quickly multiplied. Rather than clumping up in a hoard as the monsters did, the interlopers organized themselves in a scattered patrol formation. Sensing no malice from them, they were not bandits or PK-ers on the prowl. Lunaire concluded that they belonged to some organized force, most likely adventurers.

That begged a question. What could an organized, probably guild-affiliated, adventurers want with that area to send such a sizable force?

The armored giant took his sweet time to notice the two magicians, even if they stood in plain sight. Not exactly the best display of competence but Lunaire would not underestimate the man.

"Oh! I don't expect to see you in the middle of the woods like this."

Hearing the rumbling call of the giant-like man, Lunaire shifted forward slightly in front of Alice. His slightly tense nerve defaulted him to a defensive mindset, even though his face remained as impassive as before.

"Don't need to be so guarded, man. We are not one of those PK-ers." The giant sounded rightfully offended.

Lunaire shook his head softly. "Apology, but you have quite the army behind you."

"Well, I guess that is true," the man chuckled before bellowing to his men. "Continue with the patrol."

The giant made their way uphill to the magicians, looking somewhat relieved. From the somewhat accusatory glances at his backs, it seemed that the giant just wanted an excuse to skip the monotonous patrol.

"Nash, from D.D.D.," the giant extended his gauntleted hand.

Hearing a cute sound effect, a small window opened above Nash's head. Lunaire hummed slightly, not understanding why his actual name was 'wwwNashwww.' Instead of his nonsensical name, he placed more emphasis on the fact that Nash was a level 90 Guardian, just like that Naotsugu fellow.

A troublesome warrior class, Lunaire thought as he introduced himself.

"Lunaire Vivian Meister, from Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"Alice Margatroid, from the same guild."

After learning about the guild mechanic, Remilia insisted they form one of their own. Understandably, the vampire named the guild after her beloved mansion. The rest of their guild did not object and even nominated Remilia as their guild master. Seemingly a nonsensible decision at first, it was a combination of showing respect to the mistress of the mansion and the fact that she would not abuse her authority on a more important matter. Lunaire highly doubted the last point but felt pointless to argue.

"Scarlet Devil Mansion? The famous one?"

"Famous? I am not sure we did something deserving of fame."

"Apart from owning an awesome looking giant mansion, nothing at all, haha." Nash glanced above Lunaire's head to confirm. "Oh damn, you guys are quite ballsy, aren't cha."

"I am surprised you can tell. Is it written on the tag?" Lunaire joked.

Nash flatly answered. "No."

"Aww, shame."

"Still, credit where credit is due. Unlike the rest of them, you guys are not shivering back in the city and you are not even max level either. I can respect that." Nash laughed heartily.

Lunaire smile lightly but had zero intention to drop his guard in front of someone able to snuff him out with a flick of his wrist. He might be exaggerating a bit here. At level 38, Lunaire was optimistic about his chance to escape, a bold claim but not unreasonable with his extra skillset. Regardless, Nash must not be underestimated.

Alice stepped up slightly and asked chirpily. "Why are you leading a patrol in the middle of nowhere like this? Hunting PK-ers?"

"Nothing grandiose like that, we were ordered to investigate something."

"Mind sharing?"

"Well," he furtively glanced at the magicians before relenting. "Shouldn't matter, you guys can probably help too."

"…go on."

"We are here to investigate a report of some burned patch of trees in this zone. Sansa said something about a section of the woods being completely charred to ash. Know anything about that?"

Oh, they knew. Lunaire was partially at fault, but Patchouli took the cake for environmental destruction for the past week. Lunaire concentrated fully to not avert his eyes as he played dumb. Since Alice refused to lie out of personal principle, he mainly did the talking. He thought that the adventurers should be used as collateral damage from hunting the monsters. Apparently, that was not the case, a fact that Lunaire took to heart.

Although his skill felt rusty from disuse, Lunaire spun up a convincing story for themselves. Much to his convenience, the forthright giant provided most of the bits and pieces needed for the story to work. He just had to tell the giant what he already knew.

Their conversation dragged on slightly, to the point that Lunaire needed to stop the newly discovered chatterbox.

"I like you guys. What say you about joining D.D.D.?"

"I am already in a guild. I am not about to switch allegiance that easily. But we appreciate that you view us so highly."

"The lady said it best. Thanks." Lunaire shrugged.

"Well, it's a shame really." Nash let out a sigh. Lunaire felt the tiniest bit of true regret from such a display. "Are you sure? We can just take in your whole guild, you know. It's nothing new for D.D.D."

Lunaire and Alice shook their heads as one. Personally, joining an organization where they can be ordered around did not sit well with them, especially by someone they had never met before. Furthermore, there was no way that they would subject themselves to any authority or oversight, lest anyone learned of their strange abilities and true agenda.

"Then I will have to warn you."

"Warn us?" Alice asked warily.

"You guys should clear away from this zone as soon as possible. D.D.D. will be claiming hunting ground for our guild's exclusive use."

Lunaire narrowed his eyes incredulously. "Wait, what? Is that even allowed?"

"The other major guilds will be doing it, so we have to protect our interest as well." Nash just waved his hand nonchalantly.

Tense silence reigned supreme around them as the two magicians processed their thought.

Lunaire shook his head slightly. Nash's word already gave it away. The other major guilds would be doing it, meaning that no one did anything yet. D.D.D. just wanted to seize the initiative. He respected the decisive move, but also despised it.

Lunaire would not give the hoot about D.D.D. marking this territory if it did not contain the precious Fairy Ring, their gate to the world. From the looks of it, the new owner was not so keen on letting anyone through. The only comforting thought was that D.D.D. would not realize the value of the treasure under their noses. Even if they did, the rings would be junks to them without his magical touch.

Nash's tone took a more severe turn. "In a situation where you don't really know left from right, it is usually us against them."

"…"

"Look, I don't want this either, but orders are orders." Nash scratched his grey hair roughly.

Alice stared at Nash for a solid thirty seconds, causing him to visibly sweat. Her annoyance rose a few notches higher than Lunaire's. It appeared to her that D.D.D. threw their weight around to forcibly integrate smaller guilds into their ranks.

Alice understood the simple concept that more people meant more power in any community. Yet, most adventurers were not free. Large portion affiliated themselves with smaller, cozy guilds. They possessed their sense of identity and could not be pulled in so easily.

Yet, if joining them became the sole way to access hunting ground, the adventurers would be forced into submission or even join willingly to be on the winning side. It seemed D.D.D had larger aspirations and had little restraint from the more unsavory method, which placed their standing very low in Alice's book.

"Very well."

Leaving behind only two resolute words, Alice nudged Lunaire to help with packing up. Nash only shook his head in disappointment seeing the two left on bitter terms, but it mattered little to him in the long run.

Along their trek back, Lunaire kept his silence as Alice reported back to Remilia of the occurrence. In the comfort of his mind, he felt a premonition that their lives were about to get interesting very quickly.

* * *

Patchouli savored the malty scent spreading through her palate. Whatever the tea blend, Sakuya always went above and beyond to deliver. She could not thank the maid for sparing the effort to prepare some refreshments. Everyone was equally exhausted from their hunting spree. But while she and Remilia took the opportunity to relax, the maid soldiered on to her other responsibility without even a peep of complaint.

Fortunately, their hard work paid off as Sakuya managed to reach level 40 before the mansion tore itself apart. Her mana reserve barely met the bottom line to refresh the spatial dilation spell for the entire mansion. Unlike before, the spell fuel with all Sakuya's MP would last only for two days at most. But that was more than adequate for the task. Sakuya could regenerate her MP fully in a reasonable time to stack more spells and lengthen the duration.

Just as Patchouli sunk into the comfort and security of her chair, an incensed cry disturbed her thought. The magician pulled her back upright before directing her gaze at the source.

"The nerve of them!" Remilia slammed teacup on the saucer, sloshing out the fragrant amber liquid. On the side, Patchouli wondered how the dainty little porcelain was spared from being smashed to bits.

Sliding the cup away with a flick, Remilia threw herself on the backrest of her highchair and crossed her legs. The vampire brought her neatly manicured nails to her lips, partially concealing her cold grin and gleaming fangs. The atmosphere chilled down by a few degrees from the predatory glint dancing upon the scarlet orbs.

"Chasing away my lovely employees, throwing their weight to take over public property…how bold! What else are they going to do next, declare themselves city lords, these knaves?"

"Oh…how unexpected? For you to say that even though you sounded just as offended as I am…Of course, I know D.D.D is the largest guild in Akiba, but does it matter?"

"Hmph, fine! It matters not whether it is today, tomorrow or months from now. I will have my payback."

"Other than this…most unpleasant development, do you have anything else? No? Then, good day to you, Alice. And tell Lunaire good work and that I expect even better news from him later."

Remilia turned to Patchouli with a chuckle that freezes hell over. The stoic magician betrayed no sign of discomfort. Yet inwardly, she felt a trickle of cold sweat. Her fear was not directed at Remilia, but the devastation that could result from royally angering a True Ancestor.

Remilia's bloodthirst had been significantly curbed by her time in Gensokyo. Make no mistake though, as nothing in this world could completely defang a vampire. Remilia would make them squirm for sure, but probably not by slaughtering them directly. That option was pretty much sealed anyway since the adventurers would rise again from the cathedral, ready for a second round.

On that note of immortal adventurers, Patchouli hoped that Remilia would not push her revenge too far. As much as she found an eternal hostility shared by Kaguya and Mokou highly fascinating, she had no intention of being in such a relationship herself.

Following the soft rumbling of the cart, Sakuya's joy could barely be heard in her usual flat tone. "My lady, I have brought additional refreshment."

The smell of sweet butterscotch aroma hung in the air, but not to a sickening degree that would make one retch. Remilia's fury abated somewhat when she saw the confectionery on the tray.

"Ah, finally some cookie."

"Another menu returned to my repertoire."

"As it should," Remilia unceremoniously munch on one and nearly melted from the nostalgic sweetness she never knew she missed.

"Remi.."

"Yes, Patche, what is it?"

"Before considering any form of revenge, we need somewhere to hunt."

Level was an indisputably most important factor in Theldesia. Not only was it correlated to the mana able to be output by an individual, but it also affected the damage able to be dealt against other entities. As sad as it may sound, Patchouli believed that retreat would be the only option against level 90, unless with extensive preparation on her part. Whatever the cost, they needed to increase their level to 90 as soon as humanly possible. Or in their case, as soon as inhumanly possible.

Compared to the maximum of level 90, their current level 40 seemed like a lot, almost halfway. Yet, the difficulty of leveling increased the higher one went, as the experience points needed far outstrip the rate gained from butchering monsters. From her count, she probably slaughtered more than a few thousands of them already.

Along with experience points, monster drops were also important commodities. As Marisa had demonstrated, many exciting opportunities could be found in the ingredients offered by Theldesia. The potential profit was high enough to be worth going out of their way to procure a steady supply. Hence, finding themselves a hunting location placed highly on their bucket list.

"Further away from Akiba, I suppose?" Remilia asked, bored.

To accommodate their increasing demand for experience points and monsters drops, they would be pushed to venture further and further away from the protective walls of Akiba.

"Yes, we need an outpost away from the city for supply and rest."

"Hiking back and forth from Akiba every day will make the hunt more of a chore than it currently is." Remilia slumped in her seat at the distasteful thought of camping outside for days or even weeks.

"We can think about that after we find a place for an outpost."

"How hard can it be? Oh," Remilia spat with annoyance.

Major guilds, the likes of D.D.D., would not be content with monopolizing lower-leveled zones and would start creeping outward. Somehow, they needed to find uninteresting zones that no one would pay attention to. Only then could they construct a semi-permanent outpost. The situation was hardly ideal, but it was the way the cookie crumbled.

"They just give us more and more reasons to crush them, don't they?" Remilia grumbled.

"Don't do anything rash."

"I know. I know, ugh. We already have enough target painted on our backs."

Patchouli and to an extent, Remilia, knew that they could barely contend with level 90 adventurers, let alone a gargantuan guild with more than a few hundred members. The fact that they were militarily outmatched could not be overstated. Yet, there was usually a solution for any problem, even if it required a change of angle. Whether their superior technical knowledge could prove a decisive edge, it remained to be seen.

* * *

As the forefront expert on materials back in Gensokyo, Nitori gleefully accepts the task to survey the raw material markets and craftsmen district. Kappa was notorious for their short attention span, however, so Meiling was stuck with the unenviable job of a handler.

"Iridescent Dragonfly wings, Rugan ore, Golem shards…"

Nitori swooped around the store, browsing through the unheard materials with glee. Her specialty lied more toward metallurgy, so she mostly fuzzed about the ore section, but crystalline monster parts also matched her interest. She could not wait to start experiment with these materials.

Just how many more wonderous creation could be made, she wondered. Perhaps, some of the esoteric ideas from that weird Miko could come to life in this world.

Looming behind the Kappa, Meiling felt her head throbbing. She had never suffered so much escorting someone. She was not sure whether this was intentional on Nitori's part, but the Kappa seemed to linger in a place long enough for Meiling to gently doze off before moving away. Of course, this cruelly ripped the gatekeeper from the promise of a nap. The teasing continued to the point that a perpetual frown etched itself on her face.

To compound to her plight, Meiling's stomach protested angrily, demanding the lunchbox in her inventory. Reality had a cruel sense of humor as she valued her life than to take out the succulent chicken Schnitzel within the hoard of starving adventurers. Just the savory aroma could whip the crowd into a frenzy.

Taking her mind off her plight momentarily, Meiling spotted the blue-haired girl hovered over a large chunk of ore. A stout looking dwarf stood to the side, watching with an almost fatherly gaze. A glance at the price tag made Meiling's face parched in shock.

The gatekeeper tapped strongly on Nitori and shook her head. The kappa huffed strongly before deflating. Meiling felt a little guilty when Nitori acted as if she crushed her hopes and dreams, but it had to be done.

"At least wait until Reisen return."

"Aww, I know. I know."

They barely had any funds for this trip. Buying anything substantial would be held until Reisen returned with the gold from selling the dress. Even then, they needed to be judicious about spending as the sum rightfully belonged to Alice, who only lent them some to start operating.

"Hmm, are you Reisen's acquaintance?" The stereotypical dwarf asked.

"If you are referring to the one with lilac hair, yeah. She is a guild member." Meiling answered nonchalantly.

"Aha, then I think I can offer a little discount for her mates as well. Your friend seems interested in Rubrix crystal. Quite unusual," the lander dwarf lifted the chunk of crystal effortlessly and spun it around like a rubber ball. "It is only useful for crafting a thinner blade like a rapier or some style of dagger. Since it is not quite in demand with the adventurers right now, I can sell it for a little cheaper. How does 20 percent off sound?"

"Yes! That's great!" Nitori turned toward Meiling, almost charming her with the expression like a little girl with a new toy.

Meiling reluctantly denied. "We still don't have enough. Maybe later."

"Aww, miser!"

"Hmm, perhaps," Meiling averted her eyes from Nitori. The gatekeeper pursed her lips before asking softly. "Are you willing to hold it for a few days? We are willing to pay full price for it later."

"Hmm," the dwarf combed through his thick mustache. He groaned softly and scratched his head. "It's not as if I will use it any time soon. Sure, if it works for you."

"Great! Thank you very much!"

"Don't worry about it, little girl."

"Nitori" The kappa corrected him with her cheek puffed up. She was neither young nor little, just a little on the short side.

"Nice to meet cha, Nitori. I am Grippa. Hope we can do business later."

After making another pass through the store, the duo quickly left the premise. They spent the better part of the afternoon doing much of the same, much to Meiling chagrin. Before long, their surroundings were bathed in the gentle orange glow, signifying the coming night. Soon, the stores began packing up for the day and their little trip finally ended.

"So, did you find anything useful?"

"Well, how do I start…"

At this moment, Meiling realized she should have kept her mouth shut. With that one innocuous question, she just started the most mind-numbing lecture from the resident engineer.

* * *

Half a day on horseback away from the adventurer city of Akihabara, away from all the chaos left in the wake of transference, a man in his late forties waited in the private reception deep within the Cinderella castle. As one of the most inspiring sight in Maihama, the capital of Eastal League of Free Cities, any common man would be both giddy and cowed to be summoned the castle.

Yet, Johan was no common man. In fact, save for the lords and employees, he probably set his foot on this castle the most often out of anyone. Not through the front gate though, lest his visits draw attention to his identity.

Most knew him as Johan Reinbach, the president of Maihama Firm whose wealth measured right below the territory lord himself. A socialite, he appeared in most of the high-profile balls and party throughout Eastal. Though in his advanced age, he constrained himself mostly to Maihama, the home ground of his company.

Steadfast but with a glib tongue, Johan was a missed personality among the elite society. His impartial dealings added to his likability. With the coins and connection to rock Eastal itself, it was no wonder that many still sought to forge an alliance even when Johan declared his retirement years ago. Yet, rarely did anyone managed to sway him to their side.

To most, Johan seemed like a neutrally aligned, retired businessman who focused more on his effort toward grooming his son to take up the mantle. Rumor had it that he greatly doted on his precious granddaughter.

Or so was Johan's official persona.

With a soft click, the heavy wooden door gave way, revealing the two most distinguished people in the country.

A wizened old man entered Johan's vision first. His white hair, mustache, and beard were kept shiny as always. The man carried with him a serene expression, neither smiling nor brooding. Long years of administrative tasks had long etched frown lines into his brows, fitting for a man carrying the weight of the golden crown. This was Serjiad Corwen, leader of Eastal League, Duke of Maihama and patriarch of Corwen Clan.

A youthful lady following close after was rightly known as The Pearl of Eastal. Even in her mid-thirties, Lady Saraliya aged very little since her debutant years ago, much to the great envy of other noble ladies. Wearing her light blue hair in a neat updo accentuated her mature looks. In contrast to her harmless but strict demeanor, the eldest daughter of the duke led the secretive Maihama's counterintelligence agency to great success.

Part of said success could be attributed to no other, but the glib-tongued Johan.

Politically, Johan stood right in the middle and not as a player. Rather than playing the game of intrigue himself, he acted like a courtier in court or the dealer in a casino. Playing the part of harmless and fair man, many wished to sway Johan to their side. In their attempt to please the merchant, they slipped up. These little bread crumps would find its way to Saraliya's ears before long.

Such was the deal.

Johan stood up from the couch. "Greetings, your grace, my lady."

"Drop the formality," Serjiad waved his hand. "Good day Johan."

"It has been a while," Saraliya greeted curtly.

"Yes, my lady, but your beauty had not waned since we last met." Johan gestured to the couch.

Corwen family's maid knew well their task and quickly served the refreshments before retreating quietly. Only the most trusted guards waited at the door in case of any emergency.

"So, Johan, about the matter I asked of you…" Saraliya trailed off.

"My sincerest apology, but the consigner refused for confidentiality purpose." Johan broke eye-contact briefly, collecting himself.

It appeared that he got the reaction he expected. Saraliya frowned deeply. Not many had denied her direct request before. As someone of her prestige, most were expected to yield before her, especially someone selling a dress to her family.

"Regrettable but it cannot be helped. Though I truly wish to get a glimpse of someone who could assemble such a magnificent dress." Serjiad ruffled his beard and chuckled to clear the air.

"Your Grace, the consigner is not the seamstress herself, merely someone in her employ to guard the merchandise." Johan raised his hand slightly, seeing Saraliya was about to interject. "Even I do not know the identity of the mysterious seamstress. She has only interacted with us through her employees."

"A mere employee," Saraliya felt the urge to click her tongue, but that would be unbefitting of her.

"It is still a shame not to talk to her contact at least." The duke answered with good humor.

"Johan, just who is this employee anyway?" Saraliya asked.

"That, I am not at liberty to say, my lady."

"…Johan?" Saraliya narrowed her eyes, clearly displeased.

"My lady, please understand. I know we have a deal, but this matter is truly out of my hand. It is one of the stipulations in the magical contract."

Saraliya huffed, clearly not convinced. "Don't you have your usual loopholes. It matters not even if you have to speak in riddles."

John lowered his head and grumbled. "I wished my lady. I tried the usual clause prohibiting the intention to compromise their privacy, but the other party firmly rejected. They added three entire pages of what I can and cannot do to the contract. I must admit. Those fellows played me good. That dress was too juicy a deal to forgo, so he knows I will bite regardless of the stipulations."

"That fellow?" Saraliya homed in.

"A man who initially contact us about the dress, the same who signed the papers."

Saraliya finally realized that it was an exercise in futility to ask any further questions. Other than the fact that the mysterious seamstress employed a man and a woman as her middlemen, Johan could divulge nothing further.

Johan even proved his point by producing a copy of the signed contract. A quick skim made her wonder whether the man who wrote it was exceedingly thorough or wished to throw in some tongue-in-cheek. Johan had never seen lady Saraliya's brows twitched like that afternoon. He also ignored the suspicious 'pfft' from the duke.

"It seems that the seamstress associates herself with some peculiar personalities," Saraliya remarked with a pretense of calmness.

"Pardon me my lady, but I also wish to have a…serious talk with the man after my first read as well." Johan certainly did not mean talk in a civilized sense.

"Such impudence should be responded in kind," Saraliya's smile took a somewhat vindictive turn. "Do you believe these people to be a threat to Maihama or Eastal?"

The existence of Maihama's counterintelligence agency had only been to monitor and curb any influence that may undermine Maihama first and Eastal second. Usually, Saraliya would never ask such a broad, opinion-based question, but poking for weakness in the contract for weakness would take all day.

Johan blinked twice, slightly surprised from the unexpected question, but he answered obediently. "It is very hard to say, my lady. I don't exactly have much to work with. Most of what I know, you probably could deduce it too."

Johan grumbled under his breath. He had ever met the lilac-haired lady once and she was taciturn to the point of being unapproachable. Even Albert who met her and the other bastard could not cough out any detail. The only evidence to conclude from was only the extravagant dress won by the Corwen house.

Impeccably weaved and dyed silk, shockingly blue sapphire and high-quality pearls were simply impossible to acquire without ample connection. Saraliya unwillingly admitted that even Corwen themselves would be hard-pressed to assemble such materials, simply because of their rarity.

Yet, for all the hinted level of influence the seamstress possessed, the dress betrayed no intention. It could not have been to fund nefarious operation as procuring the money so openly was simply counterproductive.

In the first place, if the seamstress possessed the wealth and connection to gather such an ensemble, she had wealth to burn. There was simply no need to sell anything. If the seamstress merely used a fraction of that money to fund a rebellion in Eastal, she could have caused so much havoc. At least, that was what Saraliya thought.

"My lady, I have to contradict you on this. According to Albert…I mean Albertine Gilford, my subordinate reported that the other party was particularly interested in payment."

"That's illogical," Saraliya shook her head in denial.

"Right, Johan, I have to agree with my daughter on this." The duke who was listening in with interest finally chimed in.

"Your Grace, I have an alternative explanation for this. My subordinate could not confirm this due to the contract stipulation, but please read the 47th article on page two."

Anyone belonging to the Party A may not divulge any information on the status of Party B under no circumstance, even among themselves…

The rest of the article was followed with more pedantic junk, but Albert desperately asked Johan to reread this article repeatedly. It was only after the twelfth read that he finally figured Albert's message.

"I believe that the seamstress and her employees may be…adventurers, your grace."

Albert who knew for sure was not allowed to directly say it. Johan had no such problem simply because it was merely his opinion. The magical contract had such annoying quirks like these.

"Are you certain?" Serjiad's eyes lit up in alarm.

"This is the best I could deduce from this riddle my subordinate gave me. It seemed I got it right from his facial expression." Johan felt a trickle of sweat down his brows, hopefully conveying the correct message.

"This changes thing…" the duke brooded. "What are they up to exactly?"

"If you meant the adventurers in general, your grace, I have already submitted a report to both of you. Though in summary, they were not doing much except holing in their adventurer city. For reasons incomprehensible to use, they appeared very distressed and strangely…animated."

"Animated?" Saraliya narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, my lady. As you knew, before the May Revolution, the adventurers were like golems patrolling the land and accepting quests. They would never do something like submitting items for auction with us Landers."

Serjiad learned of said quite early after the revolution. The minor vassals vocally complained about adventurers not around to take quests and demanded some knights dispatched as a substitute. Of course, the duke only barely approved of the most pressing issue. Their knights were quite precious in terms of resources and training time.

"Is it possible to investigate further the adventurers and their city further?" The duke looked to the lady beside him.

Saraliya shook her head glumly. "It pains me to say, but it is currently impossible. The agency's resources were currently spread thin, looking into the border dispute. They managed to forge up quite a convincing document that we need to debunk if we are to deny their claim."

Serjiad sighed heavily. "Just when will those Westerland curs leave us alone, I wonder."

Although Maihama sat quite far from the disputed area, both father and daughter were not willing to yield an inch of Eastal if they could help it. Such was the responsibility of the one gripping the reign of the alliance.

"Johan, is it possible for you to send some trusted men to Akihabara to monitor the situation," Duke asked.

"It is a risk. If they discover us, they will tighten up their defense," Saraliya countered.

Duke shook his head. "Perhaps, but I am sure the adventurers would not mind a few more people just working in their cities."

"Of course, your grace. My men are merely merchants, so we will be caught if we snoop around. But if we don't, we should blend right in." Johan glanced at Saraliya. "Then, perhaps my lady's men should have an easier time after I establish all the groundwork."

In the end, Saraliya reluctantly agreed. The delicate issued deterred her from taking any risk at all. Only because she had no manpower to spare but still needed information as soon as possible that she conceded.

As the three stood up from their seats, Saraliya stared at Johan briefly. The merchant, subjected to the intense stare from one of his bosses, sweated internally. Just when he finally mustered the courage to ask, Saraliya asked briskly.

"May I know where to find the dress' consigner?"

"As stipulated by the contract, I may only say 'Maihama,' my lady."

"Is that so? How unfortunate," said Saraliya as she strolled uncaringly.

Unknown to the two, they shared the same thought. Whoever wrote that contract, they dearly hoped for a rematch or at least a payback for this annoyance.

* * *

Half a day on horseback away from the port city of Maihama, away from all court intrigue, a man in his early twenties nursed his mug of tea within the safe confine of Scarlet Devil Mansion. He sighed softly, not knowing that he earned the ire of two people.

Binding up all his notes and finishing up for the days, Lunaire leaned back in his seat. Content to relax with an empty mind for a second, that choice slipped away when he smelled a strangely sweet smell and smoke. The unfamiliar smoky aroma spurred him from his seat.

With his mug in hand, Lunaire followed the scent and it led him to Marisa. He already had the inkling after he smelled the smoke and ash. Chuckling softly, the magician pushed open the door to her underground laboratory.

Again with the explosion, Lunaire thought wryly and shook his head gently. He tiptoed around the singed books, parchments and glass fragments toward the witch disgracefully flopped on the floor. Right in front of her was a circular blast mark, showing the origin of whatever vessel that had exploded.

In contrast to the devastation brought upon the entire room, Marisa remained curiously unmolested, sporting only slight burn on her apron and witch hat. Her lustrous blond hair remained perfectly intact if a little ruffled and sooty.

Responding to his soft footsteps, the blond raised her eyes to meet him. She rose to a sitting position, dropping her large hat in the process. Her dull yellow eyes gradually cleared up as she slurred softly. "Lunaire?"

"Was I wrong to expect that explosion to wake you up?" Lunaire helped her up.

"Thanks, ze! I totally did not expect it to blow up like that."

"I believe you might be the only not expecting explosion from your experiment." Lunaire jabbed lightheartedly, earning a pout from the witch. "Though you have my curiosity. How on God's green Ear-…Mars did you cause an explosion working on cosmetics."

Lunaire referred to the Holfry ash and slime core medicinal salve. Looking at his current HP pool, the salve's meager restoration of 40 HP in 20 seconds was utterly laughable. Yet, Lunaire saw potential in its effect to slightly reduce scarring and skin blemishes.

The adventurers generally sported striking looks. Since they were originally playing a game and likely sticking with one's avatar for a long time, most customized theirs to be easier on the eyes. Lunaire pitied any bastards who created a hideous monstrosity of an avatar before transference, or Apocalypse as they called it, hit them. But he digressed.

On the other hand, People of the Lands were remarkably like a human, in that they were born naturally without modification. Through living their lives and aging, most would develop crow feet and frown lines and other undesirable marks. Women were creatures who value beauty highly, so he did not doubt that anything of this nature would sell.

Marisa cheekily stuck out her tongue, looking not in the least apologetic. "I managed to concentrate the salve, but kinda dropped it for something else."

Opening one nondescript cabinet, Marisa flicked a small jar filled with grayish blue gel. Lunaire's gaze shifted to the bottle before its description window appeared.

_Unnamed Concentrated Medicinal Salve_

Recover 20 HP per second for 20 seconds, very effective against scars and skin blemish, temporary moisturize the skin

One smear using the fingertip is enough to activate the healing effect, does not stack, effective charge around 20.

Now, that sounded like something that would sell, Lunaire thought with amusement. Marisa really outdid herself this time around.

Healing for 400 HP in 20 seconds did not sound like a lot, but it was one-fifth health for level 40 sorcerer. While the healing did not stack, a bottle contained enough salve for 8000 HP worth of healing. A very efficient item in terms of production cost and inventory space.

As for the cosmetic effect, the only thing Lunaire felt qualified to comment on was the more the better. With a big question mark at the end of that statement.

"It turned out better than I could hope for. Marvelously done!" Lunaire gently patted her head. "You should name it."

Not shying away, Marisa giggled cheerfully. "How should I name it?"

"Ahem, it is your responsibility as its creator to name it," Lunaire averted his eyes and said in his most self-righteous tone possible. It was a valid point and totally not an excuse to avoid displaying his dismal naming sense.

This served only to widen Marisa's cheeky grin as she swerved around to meet his eyes. She tried playfully to force eye-contact only for Lunaire to evade yet again. The two spun around each other for a while, their laughter growing all the while.

"Okay, okay, enough already," Lunaire stamped his foot and tried his best to reign in his expression. "So, what are you trying to make?"

"Sure…" Marisa leered.

"…"

Thus, Lunaire presented his most impeccable smile. Anything unrelated to his question from that point would be summarily ignored. He lightly scanned the surroundings and the sense of wrongness struck him.

"Fine, ze." Marisa laughed triumphantly only to adopt a somber tone soon after. "I was trying to analyze the EXP pots."

"Hmm, EXP pots," Lunaire cocked his eyebrows at the unusual dourness on Marisa's countenance. "Is there something wrong with it?"

With a simple flick, an ornate glass bottle materialized on Lunaire's hand. Hot pink concoction sloshing softly within. He quietly gauged her reaction, spotting a trace of revulsion from the witch. His purplish-blue eyes peered at the bottle, interrogating the interface for any details.

After a quick skim, he gave the bottle an appreciative nod. EXP pot was quite a nifty potion, doubling the experience point gained from slaying monsters and conferring a few 'buffs.' According to the written description, the potion would be given daily to adventurers below level 30 to let them experience the meat of the game. Lunaire thought it a nice welcome gift to the world, if a bit jarring how a bottle could suddenly materialize directly in the inventory and stacked only up to 3 at a time.

Lunaire quickly found the other 2 bottles left in his inventory and decided to save it for later. He wondered whether it had any hidden side effects. His blue orbs peered at the yellow pairs for an explanation.

"There is nothing wrong it, but what it made other people do." Marisa squeezed out bitterly, word by word.

"What it made people do," Lunaire parroted. "I don't suppose you meant trading it."

EXP pots' effects made it quite a valuable commodity. But the fact that it was given freely to newbie adventurers should make it relatively common. With steady supply and demand, his first thought went to trading. Newbie adventurers may choose to sell their EXP pots at the cost of slightly slower level advancement. Lunaire found nothing wrong with this. For Marisa to show such expression, it must be something more sinister.

"Not just trade, EXP pots are singlehanded causing slavery right now."

"Wait what?"

Then it struck him. If Lunaire was to consider the newbies as a steady source of EXP pots, then everything made sense. Since the pots could only be harvested from low-level adventurers, they might as well be penned like cattle to keep them from advancing. It was so simple that it sickened him to the core.

EXP pots were not an inherently terrible item, but it was the evil it inspired with people that caused such revulsion from the witch.

Any cheerfulness promptly evaporated from his expression. Lunaire's eyes harden considerably and were matched with the determined look from Marisa. The two did not need a word to understand each other's thoughts.

Lunaire despised treating an individual as a literal object. Such an act hit too close to home with his experience in Meister Family. Although it may be presumptuous and hypocritical of him, someone willing to kill with appropriate reason, Lunaire genuinely felt that way.

Embolden by his attitude, Marisa spilled everything that had transpired. Most of it came from rumors, but the witch did her part snooping around. As expected, the famed kleptomaniac lived up to her reputation. It was a shame really, that the zone entry system stopped her from breaking into their guildhall itself. Yet, it was enough for Lunaire.

His fear was confirmed. Many guilds began intentionally holding back junior members and coercing EXP pots from them. Among those guilds, one went above and beyond. Marisa spat with rare genuine fury, a name that Lunaire would remember to heart, Hamelin. He grinned slightly, like a hound that finally found its prey.

This guild had been rounding up new players, at first through persuasion and later coercion after their notoriety grew. Lunaire pitied those tricked and bullied into joining and then confined. Worst yet, rumor had it that these poor souls would be shuffled into sweatshop like conditions, being forced to craft items and their EXP pots taken from them.

At this point, Lunaire finally put two and two together for the reason behind Marisa's investigation into EXP pots. Her straightforward nature had her thinking that she could end this travesty simply by providing substitute EXP pots. Once again, he was touched by Marisa's hidden golden heart but also knew that it was sorely insufficient.

Even if Marisa found a recipe for synthetic EXP pots, they would be unable to utilize it. As a guild of level 40 adventurers, they had nothing to stop others from wringing out their secrets. Hamelin, which barely held a candle to the top guilds, could easily crush them, let alone everyone else in Akiba. Lunaire bit his lips. He seldom felt powerless that he almost forgot the frustration.

"Marisa…is there any more development I should be aware of?"

Marisa fell silent briefly, racking her mind. She replied, "apart from PK-ers being more prominent, nothing."

Now, it was Lunaire's turn to muse.

When considering the matter carefully, PK-ers posed a larger obstruction to their operation. The existence of these bandits prevented them from moving freely in the wilderness. Other than wasting their time, these PK-ers may camped around good zones, lowering their hunting efficiency. In essence, PK-ers were hampering their growth as an organization, a much more critical obstacle.

On the other hand, Hamelin was not hurting them directly. Everyone in Scarlet Devil Mansion had surpassed level 30, only barely for some. This meant that they would generally leave them alone.

Marisa seethed, "how could you even suggest that! Are we just going to let these bastards do whatever they please?"

The witch grasped Lunaire's shoulder tightly. Her eyes lit up with anger and unmasked disappointment. Marisa looked at him as if he just spit right in her face.

"Oh, I will stop it. Even if it is the last thing I do…"

Marisa shivered slightly from the cutting cold hidden in his tone. The words were not meant for her, yet she could not stop herself from taking a step back. Lunaire snapped out of his private thought and saw her reaction.

"Sorry, this is also personal to me too. Very personal," Lunaire added.

Marisa knew of his baggage and made no further comment. Yet, her yellow eyes recovered its heated determination after knowing that Lunaire was just as invested as she was.

"I should correct myself. They will be stopped, even if it will be the second last thing I do," Lunaire winked, trying to lighten up the air. "My goal will first and foremost be our mission, of course. Gensokyo comes first."

"Right," Marisa glossed over the previous episode with a tense smile. "Sorry."

"No worry, I can be quite…intense when provoked." Lunaire gently released Marisa's hand from his shoulders. "Anyway, what I am worried about is whether I can convince the rest to include Hamelin on the hit list."

Pragmatically, they had better use of their time. PK-ers and other parties made it increasingly harder to grow. The two magicians knew their priority and that they lacked the means to save everyone they felt sorry for. Yet, they also knew that they would regret for the rest of their days if they stood by.

Lunaire was well-aware of the irony that he could not tolerate slavery, yet willing to kill a man if given a compelling reason.

"Alice will agree."

"She will, but we cannot just cut anyone who might disagree from the loop. We are a team, Marisa." Lunaire berated.

From the sporadic message from Reisen, Alice's earning from the dress seemed optimistic. Just the three of them and a small fraction that the seamstress was willing to spare, they could deal some damage to Hamelin.

However, he would not push it through if most people picked the pragmatic option. Doing whatever someone wanted with the resources their rightly earned sounded nice but negatively impact their cohesion.

"But…damn it all." Marisa averted her eyes.

"No, damn them."

00000

And there you go. This chapter is primarily the setup for the event in the chapters to come. Go big or go home! I hope you guys are excited as the SDM folks obviously are about to go big.

I hope I get Saraliya's personality correct. It just feels right to include her as she is the person in charge of their counterintelligence agency. I still have not read anything about her other than her wiki entry though, so feel free to correct me. You might feel a slight bias I have against her. This is simply because I dislike the fact that she pressures her daughter into a political marriage even though she married her husband because she fell in love at first sight.


	5. Chapter 5: Business Ventures 2

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

I hope you enjoy this take on the reason for Touhou casts to interfere with Adventurers' business. You guys might be able to guest what I plan for this organization to grow into later in the fiction.

Also, sorry for dropping exposition on you this chapter. If you are expecting a chapter of Touhou cast showing someone up, you will be waiting for a bit. I adopt the tone of the story I write. Log Horizon is a story more about political intrigue, so shooting bits come later.

00000

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion**_

A pair of prismatic eyes scanned through the members seated at the long table. Unlike what the size of their gathering suggested, everyone was unnaturally quiet. Even the usually cheerful and chatty girl like Nitori clammed up. Not that Lunaire could blame any of them as he found it difficult to form a word as well.

Ever since coming to this strange world, this was one of the rare times when their whole team congregated together. Apart from the Kappa under Nitori's leadership, the fairy maids and Flandre, everyone showed up. Rather than a festive atmosphere however, the tension blanketed their gathering. Not the sort in hostile meeting but the one that belied the importance of the topic.

After arrival, everyone quickly picked up a task and rushed headlong to it. Though the efficiency was not particularly flattering from the lack of coordination, the goal was simply to acclimate themselves to the new environment. They thought they were prepared for anything bizarre Yukari had planned for them, but this world took the cake. They needed time and something to preoccupied themselves as they reoriented with the new paradigm.

A little over a week passed and that period had ended. Whether everyone was ready or not, they needed to discuss their first step and get to work.

On the bright side, they managed to collect ample information on their surroundings, which should suffice for their discussion. The coherency left much to be desired though. Everyone had their own interest and reported mostly about the topics that caught their attention. It took Patchouli a good part of the day to sort all the reports into a more digestible format.

Digestible did not equal less bizarreness. The least of it were a boatload of minerals, herbs and animals none had ever heard of before. Scratch that, this whole world was weird beyond compare and that was something when said by Gensokyo's denizens, beings existing outside common sense.

One of such abnormalities was the fact that people did not die when they were killed, to name a few. A certain hero of justice wannabe would weep.

Functional immortality sounded fantastic on paper, but a transient creature like human was hardly prepared to accept the full consequences. In fact, an argument could be made that no one could ever be ready. The concept of mortality was inbuilt into their consciousness. Even the most venerable Youkai understood that their power may fail them at one point, leading to an end by old age or their foes.

It was one thing for someone with a clear goal to achieve. For people gathered at this table, death would be most inconvenient in fulfilling their plan. At the current point, their purpose staved off the contemplation about their immortality. Yet, it was not the same for the other adventurers.

Inability to die rendered death meaningless and thus the significance of taking a life. If killing would not result with permanent consequences, the cost of committing murder would be lowered in term of morality. The most obvious manifestation of this change was the rise of PK-ers, adopting the common terminology, in the past week.

Whether for money or to stave of boredom, some adventurers started banding together to attack their brethren. Most resulted in the victims' party being completely wiped out as there was truly no reason to let them live. They would just come back at the Cathedral anyway, so there was no need to skip out on the fun.

On this side, their members had never run into these renegades themselves. Out in the field, they ensured no one saw them fighting, because of their unique magic. Even out of combat, they mostly kept to themselves and rarely spotted by other players. Yet, there was always that small chance.

These PK-ers should be quite leveled, thus posed a significant threat on such off chance. The loss of XP and items did not amount to much in their eyes. But, dying was still something they were not willing to experience. Just as a person trained with gun would never comfortably point one at his own face, loaded or not. In the end, they still did not know whether they would return from death as their circumstance was quite special.

PK-ers threated their growth in power, wealth and safety. They had to be eliminated permanently. Unfortunately, the most straightforward solution was unavailable. Not only were they no match for most PK-ers in level, the inability to die also reared its ugly head. Since brute force was not an option, they needed to address the issue in a more wholistic manner.

More depressingly, even larger threat loomed over their effort in the form of larger guilds. They made their stance clear that they were looking out for themselves. Monopolizing field resources and beginning to absorb more members by hook or by crook, they cared little for those not in their fold. One could even argue that larger guilds were more damaging than PK-ers as their reaches were farther reaching. Bandits may block away a zone from them, but guilds could easily bar out multiple.

This threat required indirect method as well, but unlike with the PK-ers, they could not afford to be overly antagonistic or forceful. As much as the vampire wished to wash away D.D.D.'s insult for kicking out her employees, she had to admit this point. Like it or not, the large guilds were here to stay and making mortal enemies of them would only result in thousands unkillable adventurers turning on them.

"Clearly, PK-ers had to go first. Although they don't hurt us as much, they are easier picking compared to major guilds." Remilia said, slightly upset after realizing that sorting D.D.D. out would take phenomenal effort. She had her childish impatience, but it was not beyond her to play the long game.

"No, I believe we should focus the effort on the guilds. We can easily avoid the PK-ers as they mostly wait in ambush." Reisen countered flatly. "In fact, it might be better to leave them around to hound the guilds."

Remilia glanced at the rabbit. Her eyes widened slightly at the uncharacteristically ruthless method before narrowing happily. Any hit against the D.D.D., no matter how small, was a plus in her book.

Major guilds occupied zones to extract riches. In the process of doing so, they became a prime target for the PK-ers. Attacking their operation not only become more fun, but also profitable. This in turn would force the guild to divert more manpower to guard their weaker harvesters, limiting the scope of their action in the area. At the same time, the bad blood caused by all the raiding may push major guilds to eradicate PK-ers on their own.

"Too optimistic," Patchouli shook her head slightly.

This was in the most optimistic scenarios that the PK-ers had enough gut and stupid enough to antagonize the guilds. Unlike on Earth, the victim would come back to life and easily point their guild to the culprit. It was very likely that PK-ers would only scurry away to prey on the weak.

Yet, Patchouli did not entirely disapprove of this idea. Whether PK-ers targeted the major guilds or not, Scarlet Devil Mansion got nothing to lose. They might need to be more careful traversing the land, but like they were not already doing that.

"But wouldn't that trouble the others?" Kosuzu remarked softly. "Also, if being in larger guild ended up protecting them from bandits, won't people flock to join their ranks?"

Reisen countered, "but people are already doing that. Adding a few more should not be too much of a problem. Leave the PK-ers alone and see the result. If it becomes like you said, then PK-ers will most likely die out eventually from the lack of prey."

Remilia nodded in satisfaction. Without lifting a finger and wasting their effort, the situation would unfold in their favor regardless. In the meantime, their time and capital could be redirected into strengthening themselves. Severely under-leveled with no reliable income, they already had a work cut out for them and more.

"So, wait and see for PK-ers and the guilds?" Lunaire asked.

"…"

"Yes, for now," Marisa huffed.

"Excellent," Lunaire clapped his hand. "Now, let's move on to the last issue…Hamelin."

"Ah yes, that…Although unsavory in their method, I don't see their interest conflicting with us. At least for now…" Remilia noted offhandedly.

Kosuzu frowned softly but no word left her mouth. Others expressed different degree of discomfort. Out of all, both Marisa and Alice had the strongest response, promptly narrowed their eyes. Hearing an act they found so abhorrent dismissed as non-issue, they fully intended to speak out, but Lunaire cut in.

"Although they do not pose a direct threat yet, they will eventually and by that time, they may be too entrenched to uproot." Lunaire explained as calmly as he could. "The Hamelin is like a seed for the criminal underworld. Before, they sweet-talked people to join their guild, but now they can openly coerce people. If they are willing to push the boundary this early in the game, I fear the extent they will go in the future.

"We need to secure our growth first, then worry about the others," Patchouli chided. "Hamelin may become a legitimate threat later, but it will not matter if we waste our resources to tackle an issue so little."

"…Lunaire, I know this might be personal to you…" Remilia had an inkling, so she went with it. From the way Lunaire almost audibly hissed, she was on the money. "But we can't right every wrong and help everyone who tug at your heartstring."

At her words, Lunaire averted his eyes briefly. He tapped the table softly and breathe deeply, clarifying his thought. Softly clearing his throat and hoping that his tone did not sound too strained, he stood up from his seat and planted his hands firmly on the table.

"I will admit. Those of you who know my history will believe that I am being biased. You are right, but please at least hear me out." Lunaire took a final sip of his tea before continuing. His palm grew sweaty, but this is probably the only chance to get everyone to address Hamelin with more urgency.

"We have arrived in a city unlike any other. There are a lot of people living here, but not a single established system to maintain order. Everyone had to rely on their own moral compass to make decisions. As we all should know, whether human or youkai, all creatures who walk the Earth are ever prone to temptation. Hamelin is an example of this. It has not even been two week and we now practically have slavery in the city. Without the laws, look at how quickly situation can devolve. And this is not the worst to come."

Lunaire scanned his eyes through the rest. Remilia frowned in thought but seemed unconvinced. Patchouli maintained her neutral expression, but her eyes bored at him. Since these two originated from the outside world, they at least knew in some measure the ugly side of the world and that righting every wrong was a lost cause.

Sometimes, it was not worth the effort making themselves suffer to ease the pain of others. Remilia, Patchouli and even Lunaire were under no impression that they were good people, but they were not unreasonably cruel either. They had their moment of kindness, but only when they could afford to do or when it truly mattered. Since Lunaire understood their stance, he knew it would be more productive to sell the option as the smarter one to take than the right thing to do.

"Hamelin set a dangerous precedent. If such callous mistreatment of an individual for petty reason like wealth is allowed, won't other lesser crime be brushed aside as well. Before long, this city will become a cesspool, embodying all the ugly side of humanity, where even the noble souls had to succumb."

Of course, Lunaire could be wrong. People in the city might have tolerated Hamelin only because they were too busy sorting out their melancholy. They would get over it, finally see the atrocity and then do something about it. Yet, that was too optimistic. The cost of the failure should they let things run their course was too high.

"Now, why do we care about the morality of these adventurers? It is simple. We now have thousands of essentially immortal demigods running around. What can be more horrible than giving them a defunct moral. Not only for the people of the land, but for us and yet to arrive Gensokyo as well."

If adventurers became the monsters, they would face enemies armed with both power and cunningness. Lunaire was confident that none in this party held any illusion that they would come out unscathed from the ordeal or even victorious. More likely, it would devolve into a figurative or even literal eternal war that they might as well forget about their original directive.

"It might be hypocritical of me because this issue is personal. I will freely admit that if they did something else, I might not even bother addressing this issue. Yet, I believe I still make a valid point that we should stop a mass of demigods from doing whatever they want. We can't right all the injustice in this world, but at least for this one, we will rid ourselves of a very massive problem."

"Please take this under consideration," Lunaire finished and took his seat.

Patchouli leveled him a stare from across the table. "You know that with this argument, you also endorsed action against anything morally objectionable."

Lunaire shook his head. "Certainly, but we can only act on the ones that we deem to be a trouble later. We have limited resources to go around."

"Hmm…well fine," Remilia huffed softly. It would certainly be a pain. Humans had a penchant to screwing each other over even for the pettiest reason. Having to parsed through all the incidents and decide seemed like a lot of work. But like Lunaire said, it was a necessary work to prevent this city from devolving into chaos.

If the situation went down the gutter, they had many good cards to play. The zone entry restriction prevented uninvited guests from their mansion and a sizable surrounding extremely safe. Even if the entire population of Akihabara turned against them, they could simply fly out. Teleportation could even become an option as their mana pool grew. But they preferred playing it close to their chest, hoping it never came to that.

"I believe we are all convince that something must be done against Hamelin," Reisen scanned through every occupant. Some nodded. The others remained silent but offered no objection. "The question is how. Lunaire, you already suggested our victory condition. This city had no rules and needed one. So, how do we do it? On what authority can we dictate to these immortals what can and cannot be done."

"From here to the point where we can influence the whole city, it sounds so…daunting." Kosuzu muttered softly.

"To answer your question, Reisen. I don't see a clear path to the endgame yet. But…I think I have a good idea where to start…Maybe." Reisen felt an urge to facepalm. She wished Lunaire left his last word out as it really undermined their confidence.

* * *

_**Next Day, Maihama Firm's Akihabara Branch**_

"…Hmm," Albert grumbled.

Lunaire nonchalantly sipped the tasteless tea even when the merchant seemed less than impressed with the assortment of dresses before him. Albert looked at him time and time again, seemingly mustering his courage. Only when magician half-emptied did he hear the man spoke.

"Ah, well…how should I put this?" Albert rubbed his hands together uncomfortably.

"Not what you expected? Disappointed?"

"I…" Albert almost said yes. He was tempted, but his instinct as a first-class merchant held his tongue. He tried for a more diplomatic answer, but his mind failed him.

Lunaire watched the merchant squirm in brief amusement, but he must admit there was nothing appealing about seeing an old man in a hot seat. The magician rolled his eyes, "you don't have to so nervous. These are made by her apprentices."

The dresses Lunaire brought to Albert were of superior quality, yet far inferior to the national treasure that auctioned for over 8 million gold coins. Let alone making that much, auctioning these could not even come close to quarter the value.

If the mysterious seamstress really produced these, then the last one must have been a fluke, Albert thought. Hearing that explanation, the old man quickly relaxed. If these were made by her apprentice, then he had to give credit to the seamstress. Her students already surpassed an average level of craftmanship by a good margin.

Seeing Albert nodding to himself, Lunaire's expression betrayed no sign of guilt. He lied. Alice did make these dresses, but she did not personally touch even a single strand of thread. Instead, she made these batch with her dolls as practice and felt wasteful to simply throw them out.

Normally, Alice and her legion of puppets could sew three to four dress concurrently without the slightest drop in quality. Their physical strength and mana pool were not the only aspects that diminished after the transference.

Some of their skills regressed. It was hardly noticeable at first but became more apparent as they rebuilt their reserve. Meiling complained about her body and Qi not moving smoothly. Remilia had some problems utilizing her vampiric abilities. Sakuya lost her cooking skills and work efficiency.

Alice was not spared. Her puppeteering skills had declined quite significantly from her prime. The dolls acted normally when she controlled a handful at a time. When the number increased however, they fell behind her command.

From this, it could easily be attributed to their subclass. Just like their mana pool, their characteristic skills were regressed, which was disturbing to say the least. One had to wonder what could possibly be so powerful to alter their minds in such fundamental ways.

Fortunately, raising their subclass level was trivial in comparison to the time it took to hone their original abilities. Alice spent decades to get where she was. Not having to spend another was a godsend. Also, it was not as if their skills vanished completely. They still remembered all the how part, only lacking in proficiency. They only needed practice and these dresses were merely by-product.

"Is that so?" Albert said absentmindedly, quickly committing the tidbit about the apprentices to mind. Hopefully, she might be willing to accept more under her wings. He dismissed the thought as fast as it came. If only things could not be so easy.

"Forty thousand a piece, not a bad deal, don't you think?"

Albert flashed him a look of curiosity. Lunaire flashed him a knowing look, causing the old man's lips to curl up into a cunning smile. Without any further word, they read through each other's intention.

Lunaire did not know exactly about the market condition, but he figured that these dresses should worth a bit more than forty. Fifty thousand sounded more on the mark. He undersold them, intentionally. That fact was not lost on Albert.

"Thank you for this gift."

"Make no mention of it," Lunaire waved dismissively. "It is the least I can do since I cheated you quite a bit last time."

The two broke into an uproarious laughter, surprising the clerks working outside. Albert seemed genuinely amused before his merchant side kicked in.

Albert met a lot of people. From the no-name artisans to the snobbiest aristocrats, he had seen them enough to recognize the feel of someone of significance. Lunaire, although trying to play himself as a mere courtier, betrayed signs of authority. A person like that would never come just to deliver gift and court favors. Albert realized that there must be something that came with the generous gift.

"You got it quick. I am impressed." Contrasting to his words, Lunaire did not sound surprised in the least. "Though before that, I want to get this out of the way first."

Manipulating the interface, an inconspicuous jar materialized on Lunaire' hand before flying toward Albert. The merchant caught it brusquely before inspecting the content. Albert frowned slightly as he inspected the gel inside the jar. It did not look special, that was for certain.

The name "Diluted Moisturizing Medicinal Salve" was shown on the inspection interface, courtesy of his merchant class. He wondered why they needed moisturizing effect in a medicine. As he continued to the effect description however, he froze solid.

"Worth the twelve percent?" Lunaire snickered, mentioning his promise to bring some more extraordinary products in exchange for bigger cut from the previous auction. "With this, all the noblewomen will flock to your firm…"

"How much can you produce? The cost?"

Lunaire blinked confusedly. That surprise quickly turned into a frown when he saw the slight manic glint in Albert's eyes. Even if the cosmetic could make good money, it did not warrant such strange reaction.

"We can make it at around 350 golds per jar. Of course, we will be selling it at much higher price anyway. Cosmetic like this can demand premium price because lower supply, higher demand and the likes."

Lunaire inflated the production cost slightly as the value hovered at measly two hundred golds.

"As for the production rate, we can produce about one hundred every week. Of course, upscaling is possible in case the overwhelming demand drives up the price too high."

Lunaire intended this not only as a stable income stream for the organization but also their source of exposure. They needed to establish a reputation among the Landers. Driving the price up too high and limiting exposure to a handful at the very top defeated the purpose. At the very least, he wanted everyone from baroness to the duchess herself to be talking about this product.

As Lunaire mulled on his thoughts, he was unprepared when Albert's head dipped low. In a posture uncharacteristic of the large man, he bowed deeply. The angle concealed his expression, but Lunaire sensed an air of solemnness from the man.

"Please…"

Lunaire stared and maintained his poker face, wary of the direction Albert was coming from.

"Please…whatever you can produce…we will take them all." His voice trembled as if every word pained him greatly. His tone sounded imploring rather than ecstatic at the potential profit, almost begging Lunaire. If Albert was not seated, the magician half expected him to kneel on the spot.

Albert's desperation hardly matched the conversation about cosmetic. Lunaire tested his intention. "Producing too much will flood the market and crash the price of luxury goods."

"No, the cosmetic effect can go and sod off elsewhere. This," Albert raised the jar and continued with fervor never seen from him. "…is probably the most efficient HP recovery item…ever! Nothing and I mean nothing! Nothing comes even close to healing that much HP for this price. Not only that, you can share one jar with an entire squad of knights."

Lunaire's eyes narrowed. He already expected the issue. With theoretical healing of 20 HP per second and up to 8000 HP per jar, the salve would prove invaluable in combat. As the need for safety far outweigh petty things like cosmetic, the concentrated salve would end up as military goods if sold to Landers. Increasing the military power of Eastal, a country whose attitude was unknown, sounded as bad an idea as one expected.

For this very reason, Lunaire asked Marisa to dilute the salve by half. Lower potency would lessen its military potential, while giving them more volume to sell. Albert's reaction told the magician that this method was not enough.

"When the monsters attack, do you know what we Landers do when you adventurers aren't around?"

"…"

"Knight order? No, the knight orders can hardly be everywhere at once. Even if they appear, their commanders like to play it safe because of how much each knights cost to train up again. Those who do the real heavy lifting are the town militias. Unlike you adventurers, when poorly trained and equipped villagers go up against monsters, the result is pretty much what you can expect."

Albert glanced up to Lunaire but was met with only impassive stare. He usually appreciated such show from others as it showed the quality and professionalism as a merchant. Such individual would be difficult to outfox and also make better business decision. In this situation however, Albert could not suppress the sinking feeling in his stomach even as he continued to speak.

"My father…He died protecting Fourbridge…and my brother as well." Albert chuckled bitterly. "In the end, the half the town burned anyway. If we have this thing, we don't even need healers. My father and brothers would not have died. Hell, my hometown will probably be in a much better shape now."

At this point, Lunaire felt the urge to roll his eyes, but restrained himself. Albert seemed sincere with his tale, but he was wrong to assume this sob story would move the magician.

Lunaire felt genuinely sympathetic. He really did. Even his nature as a youkai could not take that part away that part of humanity from him. Lunaire did not know the warmth of caring parent, but he could understand the sorrow of losing someone dear. He also knew the utter, all-consuming rage against the one who took them away. For this reason, Lunaire sympathized with Albert, but he had clear priority.

The safety of his friends against the faceless mass, Lunaire chose the first in a heartbeat. Monsters were incorrigibly hostile against human, so such danger was a part of the reality in this world. He possessed the mean to save them, yet he would not do so if it would arm their future possible enemy.

At this thought, Lunaire felt ironic for someone who proclaimed to correct the moral of Adventurers to be so selfish.

This was hardly a choice to make lightly, but Lunaire acknowledged the consequences of his action. Even after an argument with Marisa, he stood by his choice and got her to relent on releasing the potions freely until they confirmed Eastal's intention. As if only human's intention was so easy to comprehend…

"I don't doubt your sincerity." The sheer joy and relief in Albert's eyes forced Lunaire to avert his eyes. "But, no, I cannot agree to that."

"What? Why?" Albert's voice trembled. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly. His shock slowly gave way to frustration, then outrage. Still, no word left his mouth and Albert only glared at Lunaire.

Lunaire answered the merchant in kind, challenging if he could overturn the decision. In the end, Albert flinched and looked away, prompting a snort from the magician. "Answer me Albertine Gilford, is there a military application to this medicine?"

"That's…" Albert wanted to object the insinuation but could not. That was the basic of being a trader. A merchant did not dictate where his merchandize went, just like a blacksmith could not prevent his weapon from ending up in the hands of bandits and highwaymen. Then, something dawned on Albert's mind, a terrible implication.

Adventurers did not view themselves as part of Eastal or even the Landers in general.

Lunaire's concern based on the premise that he did not want to give combat advantage to the Landers. This implied that he viewed Landers as a separate group that could threaten his own. Then what was Lunaire's group? Landers growing stronger would not be a problem for any specific guild, but it was a different story if they were talking about Adventurers as a whole.

To Albert, Lunaire's message implied the possibility that the Adventurers were now on guard against Landers. Rather than their trusted employers, they now viewed Landers the same way one nation might look at another.

"A nation can be quite…reckless when it feels that it has advantage over others."

Albert's hands were inches away from slamming onto the table. "How can you think of that? Do you think we will turn on you?"

"Ha ha ha," Lunaire laughed loudly, but so coldly it cut to the bone. "Of course not, you would not be that stupid, would you?"

"…"

"No matter what gadgets were on your side, could you truly defeat an enemy who can't truly die?" Contrary to his word, Lunaire still believed that Eastal could pose a threat. He only said so to misdirect.

When a nation decided to pick a fight, they would gauge their strength against the opponent. Eastal had the absolute advantage in term of economic might as someone from that side clearly had no qualm on squandering 8 million gold on a dress. The potion would add to their arsenal, military wise. Even then, Lunaire felt the Landers would not be a threat on their own.

The story quickly changed however if other Adventurers were brought into the equation. From what Lunaire heard, there were five Adventurer City in Japan. If one were to join up with Eastal against Akihabara, it could pose quite the headache. There were many ifs and buts. Yet, Lunaire erred on the side of caution.

"In fact, I believe I am doing you a service." Lunaire tilted his head up and continued with his little game while ignoring the twisted look from Albert. "I am not really worried that you will use salve against us. You will all die in a mound if that is the case…On the other hand, I am a little worried that your nobility might get ahead of themselves and start a new military campaign against your neighbors. It will be so ironic, won't it, for something sold to save lives to be capable of inspiring unnecessary bloodshed?"

"But you don't know that!"

Lunaire snorted loudly and mocked, "indeed, but what am I supposed to do? Take your word for it? That your nobility possesses such integrity?"

"Ku…" Albert grunted. His hostility faded somewhat. The last reason sat better with him, so he lapped it up quickly.

"No matter what you say, the decision was made. We will provide you with 200 jars at 500 gold coins each. You can sell them at whatever price you want, but we will take 60% of the profit. It is your choice whether you agree to it or not."

This would set the price floor at 500 coins, already a generous sum considering the low production cost. Of course, Maihama Firm would end up selling these far higher due to the limited number. Scarlet Devil Mansion only needed to wait for the profit to roll in.

"…Fine," Albert said through his gritted teeth. His composure as a merchant started to return, but not entirely. The realization about the Adventurers' attitude rocked him to the core.

"Excellent, I will have the goods ready by the beginning of next month. And before I forget, this," Lunaire handed over a bundle of paper. "Give me a quote for all these items in three days. I hope you will give me a fair price."

Albert stared blankly at the paper briefly. It was one thing after the other. His brain finally had enough and needed a few second rest. He recovered soon enough from the sudden change of topic and he parsed the list. It made him frowned. The merchant scratched his chin in a mix of frustration and apprehension.

With his job done, Lunaire left, asking not to be seen out.

As Lunaire walked down the reception hall of the Akihabara branch office, he felt numerous stares from all sides. Most customers only spared a glance at him. After a few weeks, most Landers started to get accustomed to adventurers' antics after their transference, so they did not stare too uncomfortably long. However, there were some that persist, scrutinizing his every action. These appeared to be mainly from employees of the firm.

Speaking of employees, Lunaire felt that their numbers seemed to increase significantly from the last time he came in. They also grew more inquisitive as of late. One more thing to investigate later, he thought.

* * *

_**Guild Hall**_

Reisen found it highly ironic. Black Sword Knight, a guild found to be exceptionally suited for their plan, was a major customer of Hamelin. Hopefully, it would be way down the line when the Knights found they were being used to ultimately stop the source of their prized EXP pots.

"Our guild master agreed to meet with you. Please come in"

"Thank you, Rezarick-san." Reisen bowed slightly to the nodding Rezarick. She could not thank the man enough as he made her work much easier.

Reisen made good plan for the negotiation with Black Sword Knight, but initiating the talk was the hard part. She usually saw their members walking around the city, but they were usually more interested in hitting on her or mocking her low level. There was no way she could escalate her request through them. After a couple vain attempts, she had enough.

Reisen searched for their door in the guild hall and waited, discretely of course. She bet that she could catch an important member going in or out at least once a day. By some sheer luck, she fished up Rezarick, their quartermaster, walking out on her first try, leading to the current situation.

As Reisen strode through the spartan guild hall, Rezarick suddenly matched his pace with hers and kept close.

"Oh, Rezarick, who do we have here? A new member and a girl at that?"

"And quite a looker as well."

"Where?"

"Oh, damn, is she taken?"

Rezarick squeezed his temple and turned away. "I apologize for my guild members. We don't have a lot of girls in the guild, so they can get a bit…overexcited."

Reisen merely nodded but show no outward sign of being put off. She maintained her strict business-like expression even as the rough men jeered. In the safe confine of her mind however, she sighed in disapproval. Whether it was the lack of female that made them annoying or their disagreeable nature driving girls away, she wondered which was the case.

Glancing at her stoic façade, Rezarick felt a slight touch of respect. In term of level, she was through and through a newbie. Yet, she barely batted an eyelid being surrounded by late-game players, who could easily blow her away with a swipe of their hands. Such discipline and professionalism gave impression of a rather successful career woman in real life.

"Oh, Rezarick, why didn't you tell me that a cute girl wants to meet me? I would have agreed in a heartbeat!"

Reisen heard a gruff voice the moment Rezarick pushed open the door, revealing a man behind the desk. Granted that most of his heft mostly came from his impractically spiky armor, the guild master still tripled her in size. Being eyed up and down by a giant who dwarfed her in strength made her slightly nervous. Yet, she appreciated that she felt no lecherous intention behind his scrutiny.

"This is Isaac, our guild master."

"Reisen Undongein Inaba, a member from Scarlet…"

"Rezarick briefed me about it, so you don't have to repeat it." Isaac cut her off curtly, almost making adjutant facepalm from the obvious faux pas. He did not sound dismissive in mean spirit but merely wanting to get to the meat of the talk.

Isaac always harbored a slight interest in Scarlet Devil Mansion. He never remembered the name of most guild. Other than D.D.D., Silver Sword and other selected few, they all sounded insignificant to him. However, the fact that even the meticulous Rezarick did not recognize them either piqued his interest as he was usually the one up to date with all the fiddly bits.

For a guild wealthy enough to purchase such large and opulent guild base, they somehow managed to escape the radar of pretty much everyone until the expansion pack dropped. Isaac felt a degree of excitement to hear what they had to say.

"So, what is this deal you are proposing?" Isaac paused briefly before his eyes narrowed. "And why are they sending out newbie to negotiate with me?"

"Everyone in the guild works together in real life, so we know and trust each other greatly. I am the final one they managed to rope in, hence my lower level. For this negotiation, the guild master gives me free reign to deal as I see fit. Within reasons, of course."

"Oh, fair enough then." It was an etiquette in MMORPGs not to pry to deeply into their real-life business. Even the boorish Isaac knew this and promptly backed off. "So, what do you want?"

Reisen psyched herself up inside. She passed the first hurdle and here came the next. "We wish to gain access to some of the field zone, around level 20-30, that Black Sword Knight has secured."

"That's an odd request," Rezarick commented. "What do you need them for."

Most high-level guild had no need to hold such low-level hunting ground. They could neither get experience point nor good loot from those zones. In truth, even Rezarick found no reason for his guild to be holding them either. It was not as if they needed the hunting ground to lure in players to join their guild. It only boiled down to Isaac not wanting D.D.D. to have anything he did not.

Rezarick assumed Scarlet Devil Mansion to be a rather high-level elite guild with vast asset. By the same logic, they should not have any use for these field zones.

"We found one ingredient in these zone that, when processed, can be very useful to late-game player." Reisen determined quickly that from Isaac's apparent personality, there was no way that he would let her through without getting some answers.

"Then you can tell us which ingredient it is. We can easily gather some for your guild."

"The members of an elite guild like yours probably won't appreciate the menial task too much, I presume."

Isaac cocked his eyebrows. "Yet, your guild members will?"

"Most certainly not, but this is not a problem that money can't solve. We are willing to employ new players to collect these materials in our stead."

It checked out, Rezarick thought. He felt comfortable taking her words at face value. However, this told him nothing about their deeper motivation. Profit was a given. However, he believed that there was something more to including the newbies, other than to avoid busy work.

"Are you trying to draw in newbies recruits?" Rezarick presented his most probably conjecture.

"The main goal is of course profit. Producing very useful items from cheap ingredients should net us handsome profit. Endearing our guild to newbies is simply a side benefit. It is just how the situation ended up."

"I understand what you want, but…what is in it for my guild," Isaac asked. A hint of deep interest crept into his tone. He hoped that the other party had better things to offer than petty gold. He had enough of that already.

Instead of a straight answer, Reisen quickly retrieved a jar from her inventory and set them gently on the table. Isaac peered curiously at the item, before inspecting it casually. He shook the jar and watched the gel inside jiggled with a smile, something Reisen found oddly childish of him.

When the guild master opened the description tooltip, his eyes widened comically. Isaac slowly turned toward her, making a good attempt at robotic impression. Reisen expected such reaction.

The jar in Isaac's hand contained the concentrated form of Marisa's salve, being twice as effective as the sample provided to the Landers. This version was intended as combat grade medicine.

For a combat guild, specialized in raiding dungeon, the salve was what they wanted and more. It was efficient in term of storage space as one item packed up to 8000 HP of healing and could stack in one inventory slot. They could go for longer without resupply.

The salve could also drastically cut downtime when the party had to recuperate after a fight. At the same time, their healer could conserve MP for combat situation. Hell, the heal over time worked if they were not actively taking damage, so they could even use it while chilling in the backline.

"We can provide your guild with priority access to this salve. We will decide the amount your guild want to purchase beforehand. Our guild will meet your demand first and foremost. The rest would then be sold to the general market."

"Unit cost?"

"700 coins each," Reisen replied promptly.

Rezarick was willing to pay double that price for that potion, so its cheapness came as a pleasant surprise. "Please provide us with as many as you can…"

"I believe you forgot one tiny detail on the description." Reisen reigned in her pitying eyes. Only fools would not read the warning label properly. Eirin taught her that fact oh so very well. "This potion expires in about 1 week. We will only provide a reasonable amount that your guild can use. The rest will be sold to the general market and share the boon with other guilds as well."

Reisen remembered to mention the other guilds to remind them that there were other choices should the agreement fell through. This way, she could also be confident that the Black Sword Knight would not hold the Holfry branch supply hostage in any disagreement down the line.

"Hmm…very well, how about 300 every week?" Rezarick averted his eyes slightly, hopeful that Reisen did not catch him inflating the number a little. "However, if that is too much, 200 will have to do."

"Very well, 300 jars it is then," the rabbit nodded curtly, filling both men with happiness and a little surprise.

Since the two rarely ever saw any of Scarlet Devil Mansion members walking around the street, they just assumed that their guild was small and elite group. Yet, they must boast quite sizable team of craftsmen to be able to muster up 300 jars and then some more. It was a surprise to be sure, but a welcomed one.

After hammering the specifics, like the method to identify the guild's employees and security detail from the Knights' side, they shook hand and went on their merry way.

Reisen's upright posture slumped the moment she left the guild hall and she breathed a massive sigh of relief.

Isaac proved to be more straightforward than she expected from the one leading the boorish and snobbish guild like Black Sword Knights. One could argue he was a simpleton at times, acting like a boy with a new toy gun.

Reisen felt a little sorry for Rezarick. He performed admirably, but his attention was often derailed from his guild master's antics. In the end, she believed she came out on top. She avoided giving any unprepared concession and got everything she wanted out of the deal. But the rabbit felt once again that she highly preferred a simpler lifestyle, not cutthroat business and politics.

* * *

Alchemy was a strange art. In theory, even the most untrained hands could carry the processes to completion when provided with detailed recipe, for the most part. Therefore, golem would easily replace any alchemist if not for some steps requiring human touch, like mana injection and spell incantations. Yet, these acts could be simulated by various sources of power and magic inscription.

The concept of automation had been well established in alchemy for the purpose of replicating potions with known recipe. Rather than using finicky constructs like golems, custom-made apparatuses were used to simulate processes like stirring, heat adjustment and spell incantation. A complete setup for mass synthesis was called Alchemical Vessel.

Marisa had known of this, yet never need anything in vast quantity as to require the vessel. Couple with the space the setup took up and the cost to make the parts, she never toyed with idea until now.

When Lunaire said the demand for the salve would be high, he really meant it. Marisa just laughed it off initially, until he smacked her over the head with orders in the a little under a thousand.

There was literally no way she would produce that much by hand. Her largest cauldron could barely fit forty at a time and she neither had the time nor the patience.

Before Marisa stood a strange machine, towering above her height. Made of heavy cast iron, the vessel was created to tolerate harsh abuse from constant operation. In term of bulk, it occupied almost half the standard size room in the dungeon. Its presence alone made the entire room seemed cramped.

Included in the setup were three furnaces burning at different temperature, coolant pipe and large water reservoir. On two corners were hoppers and tanks labeled with the required raw materials. In Marisa's humble opinion, the whole vessel was as ugly as sin.

To Marisa's side, Nitori explained the various mechanical advantage of the pipping system she designed, but the magician tuned her out. Even if the vessel was a monstrosity, Marisa could not help but admire it a little. As long as she could feed its hunger for ingredients, few hundred jars a day would not be an issue.

Still ignoring Nitori, Marisa took a step forward. She approached the vessel slowly at first, so the Kappa remained oblivious of her movement. When Nitori finally noticed, Marisa was already fiddling with the apparatus. The resident engineer grew increasingly fearful by the minute but found no valid reason to pry the magician off her new toy. Hopefully, it would not blow up, Nitori thought.

"We should do a test run."

"Um…should we wait for the others?"

"Come on, ze. We need to make sure that this work first before showing it off."

Before Nitori could object any further, Marisa whipped out ingredients directly from her spacious inventory and charged the device with her mana. The Kappa sighed in resignation. Marisa clearly prepared for this. She would run this machine, no matter what the engineer said. Who could have expected this?

At the very end however, Marisa guided Nitori toward the controls. The Kappa blinked repeatedly, surprised. Her body turned on autopilot and let the magician guide her toward the valves.

"You do the honor, ze!"

"Eh?"

"I mean, you designed the setup, right? The recipe is mine, but you made all the parts. It is only right that you turn this baby on."

* * *

_**Cinderella Castle, Maihama**_

Saraliya played with her nails as she waited in the salon. After the maid brought her the tea, she sent them away, leaving her to enjoy the chirping birds. She loved silence. Without the incessant appeasers, she could finally hear her own thought. Though at time, it exacerbated her worries.

Johan conducted himself charmingly and calmly. His demeanor shone through in his letter. Yet, the one she received last night worried her to no end. For once, she felt a burning urgency in his writing. His elegant handwriting deteriorated to a step above chicken scratch. She did not know of the issue yet. The matter so important to warrant calling on her and the Duke was not something that could be discussed with a letter, so she waited.

When Johan finally entered, Saraliya's worry deepened. He was presentable, but she saw his tense eyebrows and labored breath. She wondered what could be so important as to whip such a man into a rush to bring her news.

"Where is the Duke?"

"He is occupied at the moment, but I believe I am more than qualified to decide on this urgent matter." Saraliya gestured to the sofa opposite of her. "Tea?"

"No thank you, my lady. If anything, I will need something stronger than tea for this."

Johan unlatched his pouch and presented two markedly different jars. One screamed of opulence. Saraliya marveled that a glassmaker could blow a bottle into such intricate shape. The pale translucent gel shimmered in the light, adding another layer of beauty. On the other end of the spectrum, the other appeared drabbed and ugly in comparison. The jar was shaped like any other potion bottle, containing something she would describe as a lump of grey mud.

Saraliya looked on with mild interest. She did not recognize these potions for a change. Her information network kept tabs of anything produced in Tsukuba, so these raised her eyebrows. This did little to prepare her when Johan told her of their effect.

"You did Eastal a great service, Johan. You have proven times and times again that my trust in you is not misplaced…Did you identify the source? Can we perhaps…"

Johan knew exactly what Saraliya was suggesting. The production method for the potion could not be widespread or else it would be everywhere. If they could somehow monopolize the supply, Eastal and most importantly Corwen clan would benefit greatly. But things could never be that easy.

"My lady, I am afraid it is not that simple." Johan held his hands together. "We do know of the source. It is the one we both know quite well."

Saraliya blinked, "who could that be? Was it someone under our employ in Tsukuba?"

"No, my lady, it is the seamstress."

"The seamstress, that one?" Saraliya concealed her widening mouth with her fan.

"The one and only."

"Then…that will be a problem." Saraliya mulled.

Saraliya never saw the need to extend her tendril to Akihabara. Adventurers were quite dull and seemed incapable of plotting anything. That line of thought came back to bite her in the rear. Let alone controlling the seamstress, identifying her proved to be very difficult in a city full of Adventurers. Any attempt to tail her messenger always ended up in failure.

"It will be a problem, but not in the way you think." Johan pointed to the potion. "I believe these two potions are actually from the same formula, just modified differently. The effect and the source are similar to consider it such."

"It is possible. Though I find it strange that the poorer version is packaged much better. One would think that the more potent version should be sold to a more affluent customer."

"It is the opposite, my lady." Johan shook his head and tapped on the intricate glass bottle. "We got two hundred of these from the seamstress's employee. She wished it to be auctioned for its cosmetic value. I expect each bottle to end up costing in the tens of thousands."

"Such a waste, but it is a sound decision. Young noble ladies can go to great length for their beauty." Saraliya said that with a hint of pride. She never needed a thick layer of cosmetic to remain uncontested as the Pearl of Eastal. "Then what about the other one?"

"This one, my subordinate bought it off one adventurer, who in turn bought it from a guild. I believe it is called the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"That's gre-" Saraliya chirped, happy that she finally got the first hint about the seamstress but was cut off.

"He bought it for around 3000 gold coins." Normally, Johan would fear for his head if he interrupted Saraliya, the daughter to the Duke himself, but he needed to get this pertinent information out.

"Three, three thousand!" Saraliya's voice rose a pitch.

"It is not that surprising, my lady. The stronger version has a shelf-life of about one week. It is probably not too useful for anyone except Adventurers."

The gleam in Saraliya's eyes died down as quickly as it came. "Is that so? Then we don't have to concern ourselves with that. The seamstress…or I guess an apothecary as well wants to make some money with the Adventurers at the side with the cosmetic deal."

"Perhaps,"

"But Johan, why did you waste my time?" Saraliya leveled a sharpened glare at the man. "All that you have on hand are merely cosmetics and worthless potion. Why is there a need to call on the Duke?"

Under an accusing look, Johan frowned worriedly but not because of fear for Saraliya. "My lady…I brought grave news. I believe this whole situation is caused by design rather than circumstance."

"Meaning?"

"The two potions came from the same source and is most likely derived from the same formula, yet only one version has a time limit, the one that can only be sold to Adventurers."

Saraliya snapped her fan against her palm. "That is but a mere conjecture. It is possible that there is a tradeoff between potency and shelf-life. It is magical potion, so anything can happen."

"That is what I would have thought too, if not for Albertine."

The first thing Albertine did after finishing his dealing was penning a letter to Johan. The realization was too crucial to delay even a second. Eastal needed to know. The letter read more like a transcribed conversation between Albert and the mysterious seamstress's agent.

"Adventurers consider Eastal as a threat, either directly or indirectly. That is the reason they refused to produce more of the weaker potion. It is not too farfetched to say that they tampered with the formula so that their better, mass-produced version is only viable for the Adventurers."

"Calm down, Johan, I understand your point." Saraliya tapped her fan against her hand, hoping to pull Johan to his sense. She gave him a moment, before posing a question to distract him. "Is this attitude prevalent with all Adventurers?"

"Albertine thinks it is not, but a sentiment like that can easily grow. And unfortunately, we are not in the position to stop it."

"Johan, I need you to get to the bottom of this, by any means necessary. Find out everything about the Scarlet Devil Mansion, the seamstress and the potions. Corwen clan will support you fully, whether it is money or manpower you require." Saraliya felt a trickle of sweat on her brows. Her decision to neglect Akihabara bit her harder than she could ever imagined.

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion Gate, temporary receptionist desk, A week later**_

"This is outrageous. It is unfair!" A man bellowed and slammed his armored gauntlet on the table. Koakuma looked up crossly after the shaking almost knocked her inkwell aside. Her hands twitched at the thought of him ruining all her paperwork.

Koakuma breathed in and out but could not stop her growing frowns. "There is nothing I can do to help. That's the policy. Your only choice is to wait in the queue for available slot."

"I don't give a rat ass about policy. I have been waiting for three days! Three!" The man jammed his three fingers right in front of the devil.

The urge to just kick him out grew greater every passing moment, but she endured. "And other people may have been waiting for longer."

"Listen here you…" He pointed his thick finger straight at her, almost touching her nose.

"No!" At this point, the devil lost it and stood up. The chair careened behind her with a bang. She leveled her most baleful glare at the man in armor. "You listen here, you insufferable oaf. You are under our guild's employ, so you will follow our rules."

Koakuma hammered ever word of her sentence. Her intensity drove the man a few steps back from the table. She did not care and continued. "The rule cannot be bent, but do you know what I can, in fact, bend? I am the one responsible for manning the table. And do you know what this mean? It means that I am the one processing all the quests here, including ingredients evaluation. I don't have to spell it out for what being on my blacklist means."

This was the reason not to mess with clerks. They knew all the little details and formality that could make the subject of their ire much more miserable. In this case, Koakuma had the right to reject any ingredients considered inadequate. Too small, unhealthy, too dry, smelled off, any excuse went. It was a sanctioned measure to deal with unruly adventurers, so Koakuma had free reign.

The man reddened and stuttered briefly. Perhaps realizing that he lost his ground, he stepped forward and roared, "are you threatening me?"

"No, step back or you will be banned, permanently. Now, I am threatening you." Koakuma answered in a voice that chilled the people down the line to the bone.

"This is a farce!" The man turned around and yelled into the line of people behind him. "Don't you see how they treat us. This is just a scam."

Koakuma chuckled coldly. Manipulating a menu, she quickly whispered a few words. Moments later, the raging man disappeared in a flash of light. For anyone who forgot, they were standing on the property belonging to Remilia Scarlet and only by her grace they remained.

The redhead fixed her hair and drew a deep breath. Then, the bubbly persona returned.

"Now then, Cat, a fruitful harvest I presume?" Koakuma beckoned the next in line as if nothing happened. The vindictive glee she got from booting that fool sedated her wrath quite nicely. "May I see the request paper and ID card please?"

"H-here you go," the peppy girl cowered slightly from the previous display but held out a crystal plate obediently.

Black Sword Knights only allowed around fifty players into their territory. This was quite fair since they dispatched their members to guard the operation from PK-ers. To sweeten the deal, they even allowed those players under Scarlet Devil Mansion's employ to hunt in the area. The employees would be receiving both money and privilege to level up, provided their quests were properly completed.

Since the job came with many upsides, they needed a proper restriction. Every new adventurer that ever applied for the quest was given a crystal plate with their names, images and the affiliated guilds. Every time they received a commission from the mansion, their plate would be stamped with fading ink. Only then could they gain access to the ground held by Black Sword Knights.

"Thank you. So, how much did you find?"

"47 Holfry branches, 30 slimes cores, 12 triffid bulbs, no more, no less."

Koakuma gave the ingredients a quick look. They looked healthy and of adequate size. She nodded and said, "the branches over quota will be bought at a fixed rate. Is that…"

"Alrighty, alrighty!"

The adventurer named DrunKenCat cut the devil off, who smiled wryly. She recovered quickly, Koakuma gave her that.

"I assume you want to continue taking quest tomorrow."

"Umm…s-sure." Cat hesitated and for good reason.

The privilege to hunt was a big deal. All the zones around Akihabara were already occupied by larger guilds, straining the resources and capability of small groups to the limits. This meant that the employees would want to hold on to the job indefinitely, for the chance to farm. There would surely be conflict as shown by the boorish man.

To alleviate this, more quests must be taken the more consecutive days their permits were active. By the third day, most adventurers would spend more time foraging to meet the quota than hunting. This forced the active permit to be cycled around.

As Koakuma logged all the information required and prepared the new requests for the girl, Cat tried striking up a conversation. "Koakuma-san, can you tell me what these piles of construction materials are for?"

"You pretty much said it yourself," Koakuma chuckled.

"Ah, right, but I mean are you trying to renovate the mansion? Even though it already looks like," the girl pointed at the imposing mansion behind the wall, "spanking as is?"

"Not the mansion, but the plaza."

"Wow, the entire plaza! But why though?" Cat still could not see the benefit of renovating the plaza. Beautifying the surrounding should be the last thing on the mind of people trying to survive.

"I guess you will find out," Koakuma handed back the documents and ushered the next in line forward.

* * *

"Damn, these things are useful!"

Isaac juggled the small jar playfully, while leaning against a boulder. He sighed happily, thinking about a great deal they struck with the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The salve performed as advertised and then some. Their downtime outside combat was cut down significantly, but Isaac loved its effect in combat even more.

20 HP a second everywhere, anytime, that should be the slogan. It was like everyone in the party had their own personal healer. Recovery magic was only necessary when someone suffered a huge burst damage from multiple hits or boss's attack.

With everyone in great shape and healer MP to spare, they could just keep going until they exhausted their stamina. The only gripe that Isaac and other meatheads had was the short duration of the effect. Sometimes, they forgot to reapply the salve after the effect expired.

Seeing the almost cheat-like utility of the salve, the Black Sword Knight abused them to its full potential. They would be stupid not to. At the current rate, 300 a week might not be enough anymore.

Isaac had to admit that forcing Scarlet Devil Mansion to increase production or partition more for him crossed his mind more than once. However, it felt kind of lame and cheap to renounce his words like that, so he never indulged too deeply in the thought. Those people were probably working their butt off to meet their orders and have some for the others, Isaac thought.

Also, his guildmates had a blast with these. Their recklessness caused him quite the headache as the salve did not make them invincible. They got carried away playing with a broken item as most gamers did. Isaac owed the Scarlets this much at least.

Suddenly, Isaac heard a ping in his ear and a flashing icon.

"Isaac, the Scarlet Devil Mansion asked to expand the quota of people allowed into our turf. They also wish that we open up our deeper zones to their gatherers."

"Oh, are they expanding the production? Give them everything they want!" Isaac snickered gleefully, happy that their supply would not run out any time soon.

A silence followed before Rezarick continued, "it seems that yes, they are expanding. They also offer one hundred more per week as compensation for the security."

"Isn't that perfect?"

Rezarick cut in, "but! I believe that this is more than it seems. People are starting to spread rumors about them."

After people found out that Scarlet Devil Mansion could issue permit to enter the Knights territory, people flocked to them. With the demand overwhelmingly exceeding supply, people got frustrated and took it out by spreading malicious rumors.

"Something about SDM being our lapdog and trying to control the newbies. They are no different than Hamelin, such and such."

"Let the dogs howl. What can they do anyway?" Isaac snorted challengingly. "We let whoever we want into our turf. The Scarlets paid the price for those spots, so they can do as they damn well please."

Rezarick sighed, "fair enough…Until now, nothing too serious happened, but that may change."

"Keep watch. I don't want anyone obstructing the Scarlets. We can't lose our golden goose."

00000

And there you go.

The Scarlets are finally making a move. All these high-profile moves, just how does it relate to their final goal to establish order in Akihabara? I guess you will have to find out. I believe I left quite a good amount of hint.

Other characters from Log Horizon will not be sitting still. Maryelle will be making appearance soon, given that she is mentioned to have done something about the state of the city. Also, Shiroe will be returning soon from his pleasure trip to Suzukino. Ah, so much good interact to write about.

Also, we can't forget the Landers who are feeling quite the heat. I wonder what they will do now that they realize that Adventurers might not be so accommodating.


	6. Chapter 6: Round Table Council 1

Hello, ITalkToSky Here

Oh boy was this chapter super hard to write. I do not want to dig straight into Shiroe section, since I want to develop the Scarlet Devil Mansion guild a little further. As you may have known from reading my other story, I do not like sticking close to the canon story to the tee. This will be a stepping off point from which further deviation can happen.

Well then, please enjoy this chapter after 8 months in the oven.

I just made a new discord server in case you want to leave some question over there. It is much easier to deal with than the reply review format in Fanfiction.

Discord invite code: nSMHjar

00000

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion Estate**_

Koakuma twisted in her seat, wringing out the cramp working up her side. Desk job was nothing new to her, a familiar in service of the one known as the Unmoving Great Library. Though, she never had to deal with so many people before. It was not difficult per se. Koakuma had no problem talking to people. Her guild was not providing service to customers but giving out jobs, so she needed not to entreat herself to the Adventurers. However, she could do without the troublemakers and more importantly, the blistering sun.

For the past weeks, Koakuma handled the paperwork right outside the gate of Scarlet Devil Mansion with only a large umbrella to shield her from the element. She endured for a few weeks. Even with the discrete help from magic, it was still not a good working condition. Koakuma wanted at least a proper roof above her head.

Her request was answered and then some. Along with the reconstruction of the plaza in front of the mansion, one of the dilapidated buildings on the side was also torn down and rebuilt into a small structure, earmarked as her office and temporary ingredient storehouse. Somewhere along the line, the Kappa went off the rail, like they often did the moment one took their eyes off them. The planned small building expanded into a four-story timber structure. The Kappa managed to dig up and implemented the blueprint for jettying to increase the upper floor space, giving the place a gorgeous medieval look. It would fit right in any castle town, complementing the opulence of Scarlet Devil Mansion.

The Kappa left the upper floor empty but elegantly decorated the first floor where Koakuma would be working. Taking inspiration from the Guild Hall in the middle of Akiba, they built long counters and cabinets for clerks. The billboard was also expanded with the increasing volume of quests issued. In a rare show of thoughtfulness, they utilized the remaining floor space as a lounge for adventurers, providing seats and sofas.

Understandably, Koakuma could not wait to move in. She worked with gusto like a child finally getting her new stationery set. To make the wait more tolerable, the Kappa gave her wooden plaques with numbers to help her manage the queue.

"Number 97 please…Hmm, I have not met you before. I assume you are here to…" The rest of the words died in Koakuma's mouth.

As a familiar of a magician, the devil boasted an impeccable memory. The number of adventurers she processed grew beyond the third digits and she still remembered most of their faces. Since Koakuma recalled not the faintest impression of the youthful girl before her, she assumed her to be a new Adventurer looking to join in their harvest. However, the appearance of the greenish status display dismissed that notion.

Sabina Callister, People of the Land

Koakuma blinked twice. After dealing with rowdy Adventurers for days on end, she developed a routine. The questions to ask, the paperwork to file, she already planned that out before they stood before the counter. Sabina's appearance derailed that neat system she got going, causing the devil to sigh.

There was an option to throw the girl out, but that would be too mean spirited. If the girl somehow misunderstood the purpose of this gathering or god forbid wanted to go on some exciting adventure, then the problem should be reasonably easy to solve. Koakuma sucked in her breath. "Good morning, Miss Callister, how may I help you today?"

"Good morning to you too, miss?"

"Please call me Koakuma. So, what brought you here today?"

"I…heard that adventurers are taking quests from this mansion. Is it true?"

"Very much so, miss Callister." Koakuma gestured toward the long line behind her. "Though, I suppose you are not here to take on our quest, right?"

Sabina chuckled nervously. "Of course not. I just…"

Koakuma watched intently while her mind churned. This was the first time anything like this happened. The Landers in the city never showed much interest in Adventurers' business. The only ones that did were the rats from Maihama Firm, skulking about in the ruins adjacent to the estate. They no doubt were searching for the elusive seamstress. At first, they snooped about almost up to the gate of the mansion, until Remilia caught their names and selectively banned them from the area. Koakuma would have lump Sabina with them if not for her entirely innocent demeanor, which brought up the question of her purpose.

"Yes?"

Sabina's voice trembled slightly. "I wish to know whether it will be possible if you can pass on a quest to any of these adventurers."

"Pardon?"

"Our store is in urgent need of Ebonis Vine. I searched through many ingredient stores, but it is completely out of stock. Something about the Adventurers buying them all up."

"Ebonis Vine, is it?" Koakuma mumbled, parsing through her extensive memory of the plant materials in Theldesia. "Do you need them for the dye?"

"Yes," Sabina nodded. "We use them to dye higher-end clothes."

Koakuma chewed on her lips. "This is quite troubling. You see, Miss Callister, we issue gathering quests as you heard. However, we do so mostly to stock our inventory. We don't fulfill commissions for others."

"Is it truly impossible? We need this or else we will have nothing to do until the stores restocked their vines next week. Even that is not guaranteed from the unusually high demand." Sabina implored.

Koakuma averted her eyes from the puppy-eyed girl. "Well, it is not entirely…impossible. Please give me a moment to discuss it with my superior."

Quickly gesturing for the next person in line to wait a little longer, Koakuma made a quick gesture in the air. Then, she started whispering, causing Sabina to look at her with strange eyes. Before long, Koakuma ushered the girl to the side and instructed her to wait.

Sabina paced around, growing increasingly nervous from the curious stare directed her way. Many Adventurers in the lounge could still her status as the people of the land and started whispering among each other. The warning glance from the devil kept them away from approaching her, but a particularly insensitive one could appear at any moment.

"Oh, Bina, what a surprise!" The girl remembered that voice and quickly turned around to see the silver-haired man.

"Lunaire!"

"I'm glad you still remember me. How have you been?"

"Great as always, thank you." Sabina giggled. "I did not know you are affiliated with this guild."

"Well, we did not get to talk much last time. I had a lot on my mind back then."

"Which reminds me…did that dress auction go well?"

"Couldn't have been better," Lunaire said as he glanced left and right. He beckoned her closer to him, cupping his lips like he had a secret to tell. Sabina quickly inched closer. "I can't tell you exactly how much, but even the Corwen Clan could not have fork up that sum up so easily."

"Eh, come on, tell me!"

Even with her persistent pestering, the girl failed to squeeze anything out of the magician and could only pout. Lunaire finally put a stop to it and changed the topic. "So, Bina, what brings you here again? Koakuma told me that you want the Adventurers to find some Ebonis Vine."

Sabina nodded with gusto. Meeting someone familiar in a foreign place like this dispelled her nerves. "Yes. Koakuma told me that it might be difficult, but not impossible. Please, we truly need the vine urgently."

Lunaire closed his eyes and mused. Ebonis Vine was mostly useful for the craftsmen. Its primary use came from the sap that could be clarified and dried into an intense midnight blue dye for the armors or clothing. Lunaire was willing to bet that the transition of many Adventurers toward crafting subclasses had something to do with the dwindling supply. After Eldertale ceased being just a game, the new reality of sword-to-sword and face-to-face proved insurmountable to many. Understandably, a good portion hunkered down in the city and turned to production-related professions like tailors and blacksmiths. Just like training any craftsman, a lot of materials were needed for practice to accumulate experience points and progress in the subclass. It would be strange if no shortage occurred.

Ebonis Vine was not a particularly rare plant, known to grow in many zones out in the wild. However, these areas were quite a way from Akiba. It was a general rule of thumb that the monsters far from major settlements were generally stronger, complicating the harvest.

Overall, the quest sounded simple enough, but Lunaire wondered whether there would be anyone willing to take them. As far as he remembered, the hunting spots opened to them by the Black Sword Knights had no Ebonis Vine, meaning their gatherers had to take a detour to find them. Since the Adventurers taking gathering commission also wanted the leisure of farming for experience point as well, they required a stronger incentive.

"How much are willing to offer as the reward for this quest?"

"Since we need quite a bit, I will say around twenty large stalks should suffice for now. My mother and I are willing to pay 500 coins for them."

Given that 36 to 40 coins were the minimum amount needed to survive in the city, this was quite the sum to pay to the weaker Adventurers. Yet, in the current climate where they could not care less about housing or the quality of their food, money might not be very enticing. That would hopefully change in the future.

"How soon do you need them?"

"Within three days, the sooner the better." Seeing that Lunaire was seriously considering, Sabina mustered her most devasting puppy eyes. The spectacle glanced right off the magician who continued his mussing unfazed.

"It's not like we have anything to lose from this. Very well, we will post this up for you. Koakuma, paper please!" As soon as her name was called, a piece of paper flew his way like a dart, which Lunaire nonchalantly caught. Sabina's eyes sparkled like she was watching a show of sort.

_Gathering Ebonis Vine_

Issued by Scarlet Devil Mansion on behalf of Unnamed Third Party

Completion condition: gather 20 stalks of Ebonis Vine

Time limit: 2 days

…

Reward: 500 G, 3 x concentrated Holfry medicinal salve

Description: A young seamstress urgently requires Ebonis Vine for her dye

Signature:

Lunaire added in a little effort on the lettering and the decorating the edge of the paper, both for aesthetic sake and to prevent the request from appearing cheap. Presentation truly mattered when it came to people. He then handed the paper to Sabina.

"Is this acceptable for you?"

"Ah…yes, I think this should be fine," Sabina answered absent-mindedly, seemingly focusing on Lunaire's elaborate penmanship. "Eh? What is this concentrated…Holfry medicinal salve?"

Lunaire smiled mischievously. "It is the medicine we produced in house, a little extra something to make your quest more appealing."

"Is…is that so?" Sabina leaned in close as she whispered. "Um…If you do not mind me asking, how much is it worth?"

"Ah…the production volume is increasing, so the price is dropping down a bit, but somewhere around 1000 gold coins."

Lunaire averted his eyes in slight embarrassment. The price point was very reasonable when compared in terms of convenience and potency with other options on the market. Yet, with their current production volume, even selling at the exclusive price offered to Black Sword Knights of 700 gold coins, they would still be making a profit. The profit margin was ridiculous, to say the least. Of course, they planned to lower it down in the future after they properly padded out their coffers.

"Eep!" Sabina cried.

"Hehe." Lunaire chuckled as borrowed the wax seal from Koakuma to affix the guild emblem on the notice. "Normally, I won't do this for free, but consider this a service on the house."

"No, no, no, I cannot possibly ask you to spend that much." Sabina waved her hand frantically while her eyes darted left and right, making no attempt to hide her shock. Three thousand gold coins, six times her reward, were not something to sneeze at and not something to spend on mere acquaintance.

Lunaire smiled warmly. "Think nothing of it. You help us quite a lot before. It is only fitting that I return the favor. These potions are just chump change."

"Th-thank you very much. This means so much to me."

Even when Lunaire said that it was more fitting to say the Sabina was doing Scarlet Devil Mansion another favor. The guild had limited resources, thus could only give quests based on necessity. The gathering commissions were used to feed their potion manufacturing. This meant there was a limit to the number of Adventurers who benefitted from the hunting ground.

But if Sabina's case went well, it might provide a precedent for Landers to consign their quests with the guild. This would increase their sway among the Landers as they had to depend on the mansion. More importantly, they would now have more quests to issue to the Adventurers, if not to benefit more people then to increase the variety and a little commission on the side.

They needed to negotiate with Black Sword Knights to allow more of their people in, but Lunaire could not see them refusing. The Knights occupied low-level zones because they merely wished to deny it from D.D.D. Since they were not benefiting from the land anyway, they might as well lend those out. It was a win-win situation for both sides. Of course, they needed to take care and maintain the exclusivity, or else people would just bypass the Scarlet Devil Mansion entirely.

Beside Koakuma's counter, there was a billboard where they posted their announcements and the rules in the guild. It seemed a fitting a place as any, so Lunaire promptly affixed the notice on the corkboard. Hopefully, someone would notice, he thought.

And notice they did.

* * *

**Crescent Moon Alliance Guild Hall**

"…Smaller guilds must band together if we are going to stand any chance. Each of us alone cannot stake a claim on any good hunting ground."

"That is entirely unfeasible. We are this late in the game, so all the good hunting grounds are occupied. No matter how many people we have on our side, the bigger guilds won't relinquish the ground they took without a struggle. It is unnecessary to say that we most likely will not come out on top in that situation. In addition, even if we managed to snag up a few zones, can all of us share such a small area harmoniously?"

"Then what do you suggest we do? If you have any bright idea, speak it."

Alice glared at the man for his overly aggressive remark. Her criticisms were valid and thus important in evaluating the merit of his proposal. She bit down her annoyance. If he wanted her a piece of her mind, she would answer. "Rather than trying to wrestle for zones near Akiba, it might be a better idea to organize a caravan to the farther area."

"You suggested something some of us have already been doing, but the efficiency is appalling. We have to spend so much time traveling that we barely get to hunt, hence the reason for this discussion."

"You misunderstood me. I meant a large caravan. Sending in parties piecemeal will end up as you said. Instead, I suggest gathering members from various guilds to form a large, self-sufficient hunting group. With the increased inventory spaces for supply and harvested materials, the caravan will allow for farther and longer hunting trip."

"So, you are saying that we should dispatch something akin to legion-level raid?"

Legion-level raid referred to the largest combat unit that could be formed by Adventurers to tackle the most difficult type of dungeon. It was composed of four raid units. Each raid unit was then made up of four parties of six people.

Alice shook her head. "Even larger…There is no restriction on the number of members like in the dungeon. The size of the expedition should be as large as we can realistically supply and coordinate. This will give us the option to included dedicated members with production subclasses to maintain equipment and replenish consumables."

"Reasonable…" Akaneya, a bearded old man nodded, seemingly convinced. "In a sense, we are establishing the caravan as a moving base to extend our reach into a farther zone."

A dwarf clad in brown jacket added. "We can even turn the caravan into a semi-permanent town of sorts after we establish a proper supply route to Akiba. I like this idea."

"But it will be tough for our members to be away for a long time. It is better to have a hunting ground close by."

"Yeah, right! If we are going to cooperate, why not set the goal a little bit higher!"

Alice shook her head at the finest example of choosing beggar. As Lunaire loved to say, it depended on how badly you wanted it. If they needed the experience and resources as much as they claimed, they would be willing to go any length. Complaining like a spoiled child helped no one.

This was the meeting in a nutshell. The premise was to invite the smaller guilds to discuss the solutions to many problems they were facing. In reality, it was more a place for these disgraceful leaders to shout their unreasonable demands. Every so often when a good, feasible idea cropped up, it would be immediately buried. Alice thought these people would not be satisfied unless everything they wanted was handed to them wrapped up with a bow on it.

"Don't we already have a much easier solution? You of all people should know this better than anyone, but still refuse to acknowledge it." Then came the voice that grated Alice's nerve the most.

"…We have talked about this," Alice growled lowly.

"Is it not just pure selfishness that you refuse to share your recipe? Even though it could have done so much good. So much for your pretty word about trying to help. If you truly wish to help, why are you so averse to sharing?"

For the past few hours, this oaf kept coming back to this very topic. Alice tried many times to reason with him to the point. Logical discourse was certainly beyond this monkey. If the recipe was disclosed, the bargaining power of the potion would evaporate. Black Sword Knights would no longer need to listen to anyone, making everyone worst off. No longer would be in the position to offer some help to lower-level players. Yet, this man would not have it.

In the beginning, most people brushed off his words. Over an hour of constantly taking in his diatribe, more swayed to his cause. Not just him, more guild masters began voicing their dissent loudly. It got to the point where people began hollering openly at Alice. The man in question watched with satisfaction and pride as if he had finally cornered her. He gave her a goading look as if he could read her like an open book, like he had just succeeded in his grand scheme. Alice was beyond the point of her life where she would find jeering monkeys amusing.

"Calm down everyone. Let's not be rash," Marielle stood up and raised her hand in a placating gesture. From the corner of her eyes, she knew that Alice approached the limit of tolerance.

"But aren't they just like the bigger guild, monopolizing the recipe for such a valuable potion like that?"

"We cannot just ask them to give up their recipe like that," Akaneya protested weakly. The frown lines on his face deepened. These people were making an enemy of a guild who truly made a difference. He tried so hard to keep them from antagonizing Alice any further, but to no avail.

Rarely did anyone witness the full consequence of pushing Alice's buttons. She was by no mean a sensitive individual that went off the rail at the slightest tickle. Even if one somehow rubbed her the wrong way, most likely than not, Alice would issue a warning before being pushed off the edge. It took a special kind of people to continue beyond that point.

"Enough…"

Woodstock sitting next to Alice felt chill to his bone when the rest of the room went unnoticed. He whispered placatingly, but she had none of it and slammed her palm on the table.

"Enough!" Alice seethed, silencing the entire venue. "I did not come here to take demands from the likes of you. How shameless must you be to feel entitled to anything we rightly earn? And before you are saying anything else, we are not running charity. We provide help but do not feel for a moment that we have an obligation to take care of you. I represent my guild in good faith to discuss measures to improve our city. But it appears our sincerity is not appreciated."

"Alice-san, that's not…"

Rarely did Alice talk over anyone. When she did, her regal presence commanded attention. With a stare that disguised none of her wrath, her eyes swept the room, missing no one. "I am disappointed…there is little need for further discussion. You all have truly opened my eyes..."

"You can't just leave like…"

Heedless of their words, Alice rose from her seat and after properly sliding the chair under the table, left for the exit. As she neared the door, the rest started making a ruckus. To Alice, they were no longer her problem. The two boys guarding entrance quickly let her through with embarrassment and guilt written on their faces. They too witnessed Alice withstood endless tirade from other guild leaders in the room and felt responsible for inviting her to suffer such an affront.

* * *

_**Scarlet Devil Mansion, half a month later**_

Looking down from the rooftop of her mansion, Remilia smiled with no little amount of pride. The large clearing that replaced the Misty Lake in front of her gate looked completely different from when they arrived. No longer littering with shattered rocks and overran with weeds, the Kappa overhauled it into something that the vampire could proudly claim as a part of her estate. Though dilapidated concrete buildings surrounding the clearing were still the eyesores, she would deal with them later, one step at a time.

Since Remilia already owned a gorgeous western style garden inside her mansion, modeling the plaza in the same style seemed a little redundant. She wanted something different and interesting while being tasteful. It was a tough ask. But since they needed to a plaza for their plan, it did not hurt to build a pretty one to last.

After clearing out the rubble, concrete, and asphalt, they were left with a rectangular clearing with the long axis facing the Scarlet Devil Mansion. With ample funds and space, they could afford to be a little creative and the result showed.

They split the area into three sections lengthwise. The central plot was paved with smooth stone brick, making up the walkway that led straight from the Mansion gate to the other end of the plaza. Flanking this path were gardens with two rows of Sakura trees each. Albert took quite the effort to find and transport them to Akiba. Unfortunately, the flowers had long scattered with the changing season. Small waterways crisscrossed through the side sections for added aesthetic and to nourish the plant.

Opposite of the Scarlet Devil Mansion across the plaza was an oriental style timber building atop a small artificial hill. Still in the early stage of construction, the framework and the distinctive red gateway or Torii a few paces away in front marked it as a traditional Shinto shrine.

It was perhaps the height of irony for a demon (Japanese characters for Vampire is a literal blood-sucking demon) to voluntarily built a shrine. Yet, Remilia felt oddly satisfied. The shrine unsurprisingly resembled Hakurei Shrine. It was a unanimous opinion among them to build a reminder of the fond memories in Gensokyo. Moreover, it served the purpose and fitted with the plaza thematically.

At the very center of the plaza where smaller pathways crossed was a small raised platform. Standing there, one could see the Scarlet Devil Mansion on one end and the Shrine on the other. It was a diametrical arrangement, a contrast between Western and Eastern, Youkai and Human. On the platform, itself was the Hakke pattern.

Apart from being the performance stage, the Hakke platform doubled as a magical focal point. The pattern was also known as Bagua in Chinese, was a hexagonal pattern of eight trigrams, usually enclosing around Taijitu. Hinted by the name, it was the critical element in the functionality of Hakkero.

Though unlike the Hakkero that used the arrangement of the trigrams of Earlier Heaven pattern, the platform followed the Later Heaven format. In the simplest term, the former demonstrated the state before creation and the tension between opposites. It was this polarization that Hakkero derived its absurd power. On the other hand, the Later Heaven arrangement described the change of the natural world, making the platform more suited in channeling energy. This was chosen as to not imply diametrical tension and struggle in between two buildings representing Youkai and Human.

No matter how many times she looked, Remilia could not smother down the ember of pride in her chest. In her eyes, this was more than a worthwhile addition to her domain and a fitting stage for a grand festival. Though, watching anything alone was somewhat lonely even to a vampire like her.

"Remi?"

"Ara? Lunaire, trying to catch the peeping tom again?"

"Yeah," Lunaire answered and fell silent briefly.

"You must already be quite tired. Thank you for your effort."

Sending out a strong mana pulse, Lunaire felt his reserve dipped, still not used to limited power at his disposal. In less than a heartbeat, the return ping arrived and informed him of fourteen contacts. Using scrying magic to obtain the visual information, he removed most of them from his notice. The Scarlet Devil Mansion Estate zone that surrounding the premise proper was not made private or else no one could access the plaza they built. Some players not knowing any better sometimes took residence in one of the dilapidated skyscrapers in the area. However, this also meant that the uninvited guest could spy on the mansion as well, thus the precaution.

"Oh, found one." Lunaire smiled predatorily. "His name is Vincent."

"Just Vincent?" On cue, Remilia scrolls through the guest list of the zone and promptly booted him out. "How many do we have so far?"

"I believe that was the thirty-second."

"After so many times, I thought they would learn not to trespass into my property." Remilia huffed, annoyed.

"They probably thought if they try hard enough, one probably can slip through the net."

"Fat chance."

"Perhaps, I should pay a visit to Albert and hopefully stop this charade for good," Lunaire mused softly.

"I am surprised you even let him get away with this for so long."

Frankly, there was a little problem to leave the peeping tom be. The mansion was set as accessible to only the guild members, so the spies could only observe from afar. Given her vampiric nature of the mistress, the curtains were kept close most of the time, and all the important activities were done in the dungeon beneath the mansion. Combined with numerous magical wards prevented any attempt of remote surveillance, there was truly no way they could see anything.

Yet, being watched was always unpleasant.

"I had hoped they would learn their lesson and back off peacefully. We slapped them on the wrist multiple times already." Lunaire sighed. "Though I must give them one thing. They at least knew we have the names of their spies and quickly removed them from their posts in Maihama Firm branch."

"Still, to think that we cannot make a concrete connection between them, are they stupid?"

Lunaire smiled softly. "If they honestly think that way, then they are truly morons. However, they might be banking on the fact that we cannot conclusively prove that connection. Since we did not attempt to capture these observers, they can just quickly throw them out of the city and that is the main evidence gone. We have no connection beyond Akiba after all."

"Then, we still have no evidence even now, then?" Remilia asked in dismay.

At this mention, Lunaire smiled gleefully. "Do we even need evidence?"

With just this one question, Remilia's scarlet eyes lit up in delight. Although she did not take an active part in the deals with Maihama Firm, Lunaire made sure to give everyone a summary. One of the most important details was that the consigning agreement made no mention of the obligation for Scarlet Devil Mansion to continually provide the goods. It was like a one-time deal every month for 200 units of the medicinal salve. Lunaire could cancel the arrangement at any moment for absolutely no reason at all.

"Will it be good to lose such a large portion of our income?" Remilia asked.

"While it will be a bit painful, we already have a reliable source of cash for the near future from our ginormous savings, the sale of Marisa's salve, and a bit of commission from issuing quests."

Lunaire referred to the new service offered by their guild. After the speedy conclusion of her quests, it seemed Sabina spread the words to the other Landers. With most adventurers still not accepting quests, this seemed like a godsend. Mere days afterward, the consignment request came flooding on, prompting an emergency meeting between the people in the mansion.

"Hmm, but the salve does not amount to even half of our current income this month, no? As for the commission, that is almost like charity. We are taking too small a cut from the final reward. Also, unlike the 8 million coins item like that dress, I doubt a threat from mere cosmetic could scare a large business like Maihama Firm. Am I wrong?" Remilia had her bout of thoughtfulness. Though childish most of the time, she did not live this long for the show.

Lunaire shook his head gently. "Although you are correct to concern about our income if we make a move, it will not be because of us pulling out of the deal, but the opposite."

"Why would Albert cancel the arrangement?"

"Well…he might do that if we start becoming more…heavy-handed with his precious spies." Lunaire grinned.

Against an opponent like Maihama Firm, it was either go big or go home. Just like Remilia said, a threat to cut the cosmetic supply would mean so little. There were some other indirect options. If they could provide watertight proof of their spying and possibly the affiliation of their employers, Lunaire could smear some dirt on their name. Reputation was everything for a merchant, both their lifeblood and their shield. If their impartiality and confidentiality were called into question, those with things to hide like nobility would think twice before dealing with them. However, shrugging off unfounded accusations was easy enough for Maihama Firm with a stellar reputation. Lunaire would need quite the ammunition to hurt them, something not in his hand.

Nothing short of drastic measures would even faze the Maihama Firm. On the other hand, losing any income at this point would hurt the guild much more.

"Let us not get ahead of ourselves. I have thought of many ways. Even the mildest threat effective against Maihama Firm would inevitably involve playing with human lives. There is no way that the others would approve of such a drastic measure."

"Hmm…hypothetically?" Remilia tilted her neck cutely.

Lunaire glanced away briefly and dawdled. "Well…hypothetically, we can threaten to sell the medication in its more stable form to the Holy Empire Westelande for a start. Maihama Firm seems concerned about the wellbeing of Eastal, so this could give us a bit of leverage. But it is a dangerous game. If we have to follow through with the threat…"

"It could change the balance of power," Remilia concluded dourly.

"We could not kill their spies either as that will antagonize them thoroughly against us. At this stage, we cannot afford to make enemies carelessly." Lunaire sighed deeply, feeling his happiness escaping him by the seconds. "The only thing that might work banked on a shaky assumption that they are just as wary of making an enemy of us as we are to them."

"Why is that shaky? Are the spies not Landers? They are not in the right mind if they have a bright idea of antagonizing unkillable demigods like the adventurers."

"Let us not discount the possibility that the Maihama Firm may just be a pawn by other adventurers, perhaps from another city altogether, to sound us out. Their current passivity can be merely a prelude for their machination. Of course, I might be too paranoid, but we know too little about this world. Dealing with this city full of adventurers is already a lion's share of work."

Remilia puffed her cheek. "So, we can only lay low and take it for now."

"Unfortunately, not just for now but for the foreseeable future. That was just my idle thought. The reason we even sell anything to Eastal at all is to grow our influence outside of Akiba." Lunaire shrugged. "It will be a shame to antagonize them for the moment."

* * *

"Is there a problem?"

After leaving Koakuma with all affairs regarding the quest consignments, it would be utterly cruel to put any more on her plate. On other administrative matters for their guild like business deals, organizing inventory, and such were picked up by the others. On that night, it was Alice's turn to chipping away at the mound of paperwork.

Nobody in the world likes paperwork. There was something universally soul-crushing about it, at least for the general population that had not developed a severe case of masochism. It took her the better part of the night. Looking out the window, the sky reddened ever so slightly. The aching headache after such an ordeal demanded tea. Much to her surprise, she found Sakuya in the kitchen.

Normally, it was normal to see Sakuya up and about in such ungodly hours. Her mistress was a vampire, a nominally nocturnal species. However, their activity schedule shifted to what humans may consider normal after the arrival mostly because of the hunting session. Their magic tended to be very bright, thus could be seen from miles away at night. Even with the declining threat of PK-ers, it was unwise to invite attention. Illusion could mitigate the risk, but that was a luxury they could not afford. Their diminished mana reserve was better spent killing the monsters. The situation improved with the rising level, but the shift lingered somewhat.

"No, it is nothing much."

Sakuya answered softly, but her face remained scrunched up in thought, a rare spectacle from the maid. Alice eyed a series of porcelain teapots and cups in front of her. It looked like a tea tasting session. Small wooden crates marked with Maihama firm insignia stood silently to the side.

"Is the tea unsatisfactory? I heard Lunaire ordered just about every variety they offered…even the ones they serve to the nobility.

"…"

Sakuya sighed softly and pushed out a cup to the magician without so much a word. Alice tilted her neck slightly and eyed the dark liquid curiously. A faint aroma of black tea wafted over her nose as she took a sip.

Alice rolled it on her tongue briefly and pulled her face slightly. "…Bitter…and astringent? There is no hint of fruitiness or sweetness at all."

Taking different types of tea was a matter of taste with no right or wrong. Yet, most people she knew in the mansion, especially Remilia and Patchouli, preferred the more delicate, fruity, and floral black tea. Even for Alice who enjoyed many different types of tea, this bitter was a little much for her. Since her palate for black tea was quite similar to Lunaire's as far as she knew, he probably would find this unappetizing as well.

"This one is a miss then." Alice placed down the cup. "What about the others?"

Sakuya shook her head softly. "The premium teas are all relatively the same with a little difference in more subtle tasting notes, possibly from the growing region. Even then, the bitterness covered up everything."

"The nobility may be partial to the bitterness. What about the cheaper ones?"

Sakuya looked away in disgust. "I do not want to call that tea. They were dirty. Twigs, dust, and even small gravel…"

Alice cringed in response. Anyone could at least agree that taking tea with gravel was the wrong way to go about it. Well, given the Landers thought previously that neither the food nor beverage had any taste, it was quite understandable. Alice never could understand the reason people rely on their skill menu to make something as simple as lemonade without the barest thought of trying to squeeze the damn juice out with their hands. If they ever tried, they would have learned about the wonder of taste. The possibility of replenishing their tea stock on this side went out the window. Everyone would not be amused.

"What about the green tea imported from Ninetail dominion? Lunaire complained that he paid quite the sum for that."

"Those are more tolerable. It is still quite bitter with no hint of sweetness, but perhaps can be palatable if turned into Genmaicha." Sakuya mussed.

Genmaicha was a type of cheaper tea made by mixing green tea leaves with roasted brown rice. The starch and nutty aroma could cover up the bitterness and make it easier to drink. Still, Lunaire would have preferred the tea being of a higher grade than this. Suffice to say that if even the best green tea tasted like this, they could all forget about the vaunted elegance of the Macha or Gyokuro. Their current tea supply just became that much more precious.

"We made sure to include a sample of just about every useful plants and herbs in Gensokyo. Surely, there must be some of our favorite cultivars hidden around somewhere." Alice suggested. This was after all a project involving the very fate of Gensokyo. To say that no effort was sparred was an understatement. The greenhouse annex and the underground seed bank could be considered a kind of Gensokyo plant Ark.

"If I may ask, but will that not take a long time? For the plant to multiply and mature?" Sakuya inquired.

"I am sure we have a recipe or two for concoctions to speed up plant growth from the Eientei's doctor. The taste might suffer somewhat for not having enough time to acclimate with the weather and develop the aroma. But anything is probably better than this." Alice smiled charmingly. "As for the land…we have nothing if not money."

Brewing the amount of potion necessary to multiply a handful of tea trees into hundreds would eat into their reagents and ingredients store. This was a small price to pay though. Most ingredients were based on various herbs, so their greenhouse could replenish the supply before long. Waiting was not a problem without any pressing need.

"You are thinking of buying land…just to cultivate tea?"

Sakuya's answer was not one of astonishment but rather, interest. She cupped her chin and fell silent. Even after spending a considerable amount for the renovation of the plaza, some could be spared just to make their lives here a little more comfortable without impacting the agenda in the least. They were in here for the long haul after all. Besides, the one earning that eight million gold coins was the one proposing this idea in the first place. How could she not be tempted?

"But what about manpower?"

"We can just rent a small parcel of land from the existing Landers' plantation for our tea plants and pay them to take care of it to our specification." Alice paused and then chuckled for a bit. "We may even upscale it a bit and add it to our product portfolio. It is always good to diversify as Lunaire often said."

"That is very…tempting." Sakuya smiled. This would satisfy first and foremost her mistress, while also giving another good source of income. "Since it is just renting, we can easily cut our loss if the cost is too much to sustain."

"And should it be profitable, we might even consider opening our tea estate. The nobility drinks tea just for the fanciness. If we can get the tea to also not taste like water, there will be no competition."

The two women shared a smile. Though before long, Sakuya's took on a more teasing look.

"My…I never know you wanted to become a trader."

"Hmm, maybe I have a talent for this…"

"Hehe…at this rate, you might be the richest woman in this city."

"Flattering me will not get you anywhere, you know?"

The two women giggled mirthfully as they cleaned up the chinaware on the table. The high-grade bitter teas were quietly shelved away in the storeroom, while the dirtier ones were immediately discarded. In Sakuya's words, no one deserved to suffer through that.

"I will begin looking for the tea estates then. Hopefully, we will find somewhere close by."

* * *

_**Northern Summit, Ezzo Empire, the next day**_

In the bitter cold of the extreme northern forest, a lone keep stood, beset by a torrent of monsters and heavy blizzard. Frost Trolls and Giants charged forth frenziedly, disregarding their immolated kin just to get an inch closer. From the sky, the Frost Wyverns and even the rarer Frost Wyrm circled like sharks. At any sign of weakness, they would swoop down to unleash their breath of freezing fog and eviscerating ice shards.

Any lander would call the situation hopeless. The heavy snowstorm made any prospect of reinforcement or retreat a pipedream. There was nowhere to run. The defenders would slowly be dug out and devoured by the monsters.

Yet, this was not a normal keep that these vermin were trying to siege. From the lowliest foundation to the walls to the highest crenels, all shone brilliantly in the dim sun of the extreme north. Rather than the cobblestone and stone bricks of any other contemporary structures, the perfectly cut and polished emerald made up every inch. Even with the diminutive size for a keep, the amount of verdant gemstone probably amounts to more than the total humankind ever uncovered from the earth.

Not just relying on the natural resilience of Emerald, the keep was protected with layers upon layers of concentric barriers. Arrows from archers, frost bolts from the troll shamans, and the withering breath of the Wyrm washed over the shimmering curtain like raindrops. Even further beyond the perimeters was a myriad of wooden and stone stakes stemming the ferocity of the charging monster. The place could be considered a bastion of not for the small number of figures manning its walls.

"I am getting sick and tired of this!" Lunaire muttered silently.

"I know! I am the second-best youkai exterminator, but give me a break, ze!" The blond craned her next to another girl to her side. "Nitori, they really, really, like you!"

The demure girl with a green cap could not help but quip back. "That does not make me any happier." The voice was quickly followed by the series of stuttering explosions from her hands.

Back on Earth, the Kappa still could not compete with the information age that just dawned on the outside world a while back. They had great potential, contributing almost solely to the technological development of Gensokyo even without a great pool of brainpower to draw upon. However, on Theldesia where the industrial revolution had not even started, it was not wrong to say…Kappa science was the best in the world!

It took a few instructions and theoretical concepts from Lunaire and Reisen to culminate in the beast in Nitori's hand. Although not a technological marvel like the laser gun that the rabbit used on the moon, that was undoubtedly a firearm.

It was not a measly little rifle though. The Kappas were capable of manufacturing precision weapons like the one they made for Reisen. For themselves, however, their childish mentality showed through, namely, size mattered. In Nitori's hand was not a rifle, but a cannon. Even with her strong physiology, there was something surreal about a girl singlehandedly hosing down her enemy with solid shot 20 millimeters shells from the hip, while still carrying a gigantic backpack full of tools. Combat engineers could not get any better than this.

* * *

Taking a step back, one might wonder what business the Scarlet Devil Mansion had in the extreme north of the Ezzo Empire, or the Hokkaido region as the youkai of Earth knew it. The answer was rather simple, grinding for level. To the normal Adventurers, however, they would add the descriptor of diabolical nutcase in front and for good reason.

Since level was the foundation of recovering power, the Scarlets went to it with great gusto. Even if the monsters mostly had peas for brains and hunting them over and over was not much fun, they treated them like work and training. The thought of being at the mercy of other Adventurers also spurred them on. Thus, they used to most effective measure they knew, no matter how utterly off the rocker it may seem to others.

With their expertise in combat and wide repertoire, hunting monsters 5 levels above them was the bare minimum they were willing to accept. Anything lower and they would kill them faster than the respawn rate, thus wasting time for much fewer experience points. Anything above 12 levels above them would be a good challenge, but too much effort to be efficient. Though, the matter changed entirely with good preparation. Various gadgets and a little terrain manipulation worked wonders in making the job easier.

Then, there was the finding out the more game-like characteristic of the world, namely the power-leveling service countermeasure. When higher-leveled Adventurers partied up with sufficiently weaker ones, the monsters would display unparalleled aggression toward them, mobbing them. This deterred using stronger friends to gain an unfair advantage. In no way this system was designed with lunatics in mind.

When Scarlet Devil Mansion went on a hunt, they generally designated one member to be left behind. This person would be responsible for the affairs in the city, while the others continued to raise their level. When the difference between their levels widened enough, the countermeasure would trigger the next time they all went out hunting. This drastically increases the growth rate. After their levels equalized, the process would be repeated with the role of designated bait rotated between each of them.

Combining these two concepts yielded one of the most insane power leveling systems. First, a location with defensible terrain away from prying eyes was selected. The landscape could be further reshaped to suit their purpose, creating chokepoints to funnel the monsters into kill zones. The perimeters were then fortified with magical barriers and traps. As the magical repertoire expanded with more mana at their disposal, the setup only got more elaborate from there. More powerful monsters could be safely slain in much larger numbers.

With the forward base and defenses in place, they simply had to run around with the bait and pull the resulting train of monster, a poor man parody of Night Parade of One-hundred Demons, into their kill zones. There was no need to fight the monsters on their term when they could be fighting on the Scarlets'.

The discovery of fairy rings pushed this method to even greater heights. Utilizing Lunaire's expertise in probability manipulation, none of Yamato lay beyond their reach. Even if their most suitable hunting ground were the deepest pit of the earth or highest summit of the north, they could easily be home in Akihabara within a few days.

Half a month of relentless, almost daily hunting of much higher-level monsters propelled their levels up to just above the eighties. That was achieved with much sweat and tears, but certainly without using EXP pots. Those were reserved for the last stretch of their journey.

Blue flame erupted violently throughout the battlefield. Rather than a magic cast by anyone, they were the result of the marriage between Marisa volatile concoction and Kappa engineering. Even with such fancy preamble, the devices were merely landmine, designed to scatter the liquid content within when stepped on. When exposed to the air, the sticky concoction burned furiously in the eerie blue flame.

_Please mind your step Mark. III_

_Deal 500 HP splash explosive damage on the entity activating the pressure plate._

_Scatter incendiary gel lumps in a large area, each inflicting on average of 50 HP per second for 20 seconds of burn damage and an additional 15 HP per second for 10 seconds of poison damage. The effect is stackable, depending on how much of the gel makes contact. Each charge dispersed on average of 20 lumps of flammable gel._

_The blue flame burns more furiously in contact with water!_

_Description: Jolly good thing Geneva Convention does not apply to monsters. A devastating landmine one should not step on. Like seriously, do not step on it._

Planting these randomly in the open would be a waste of their power. Various boulders, obstacles, and stakes littered the area, funneling and concentrating the horde toward progressively smaller chokepoint where the mines lied in wait. This provided a good target for the magicians lobbing spells from the high towers. Fortunately, the monsters were not deterred, trying to get to the Nitori and her party still visible. They could not realize the futility of their action.

Marisa held many area-of-effect spells in their repertoire. The latter regained her ability to use Master Spark a while back and could easily decimate a vast swath of monsters at once. Any group of stragglers that chose the slightly smarter route to wade through the obstacle was picked off by the combined effort of Lunaire and Reisen. The monsters that managed to slip through even that would face the towering bulwark that was Meiling.

Against the enemy on the air, Remelia, Sakuya and Meiling had fun picking the lumbering beasts apart. The wyverns and Wyrm had great difficulty tracking, let alone engaging, the much smaller and more maneuverable foes, which paradoxically punched way heavier than their weight.

Another day, another massacre, befitting the name of Scarlet Devil…

* * *

"Are you ready, Sakuya?"

"Ready when you are."

"Alright, heave-ho!"

Lunaire said it as if he would lift something heavy, but he merely used his magic to blow away the blanket of snow that swallowed their loots from the fighting.

After being killed, the monsters had a chance of conveniently dropping useful parts of their body along with some gold coins. This made up what the Adventurers called loot and were exempted from the violent alchemical reaction that would destroy the carcasses minutes later. The leftover bodies could be manually harvested for further resources if needed, but everyone was simply too busy fighting. Since the goal was to power-level, they were already content with collecting just the automatically dropped loots.

On cue, Lunaire felt the activation of familiar activation of time dilation spell. If not for Sakuya shifting her place slightly and the filled wooden crates of monster parts, one would not notice the effect of the time stop.

A literal horde of towering monsters and wyverns reduced to merely four wooden crates the size a man could easily carry around. Thinking that, Lunaire could not help but feel wasteful. Sakuya saw his expression and said softly.

"Yes, as always, some are destroyed by the other giants trampling about."

"And destroyed by all the explosions, fire, lightning…" Lunaire shook his head. "Let us go then. Would not want to make Remilia wait."

With a gesture of his hand, the crates floated up weightlessly and followed the two of them like ducklings when they flew off.

In the distance, they approached the emerald keep and saw it slowly retracting into the ground. The snow could bury much evidence of their presence here, but it was not so omnipotent as to hide a literal tower of gemstone. If spotted by the Landers, Lunaire did not want to imagine the ensuing mayhem. Of course, it would be a waste to simply disintegrate every bit of the sellable goods, so they kept a few gigantic blocks of emerald as their reserve funds.

On the ground a bit further from the site, the two saw a cloaked figure. Fiery red hair spilled out from under the thick fabric. Both Lunaire and Sakuya landed next to the gatekeeper, who for some reason was outside the barrier keeping out the bitter cold.

"I did not know you like the cold. What are you doing out here?"

"Oh…Lunaire-sama and…Sakuya!" Like a child caught misbehaving, Meiling frantically hid a ball of paper behind her.

Lunaire cocked his eyebrows. If that were not suspicious, nothing else would be. But Meiling was not the scheming sort, so he just shrugged. It was not business meddling. On the other hand, Sakuya leveled her scrutinizing eyes upon the poor gatekeeper, who retreated like a mouse facing a cat. Perhaps, after dealing with her antics for many years, the maid gained a transcendent ability to detect guilt.

"Meiling, is there something you want to be telling me?"

"Ah…well…maybe."

"Meiling," Lunaire sighed softly. "If you are going to be that obvious, might as well just fess up. Who knows, maybe Sakuya may reduce the number of knives she throws at you."

Sakuya glanced at Lunaire, somewhat peeved. Her elbow twitched, but she refrained from slamming it into his side. The maid did not make a habit of throwing her knives at her colleagues, apart from the highly exceptional circumstance. Still, that statement fully implied that she did that from times to times, obviously under the spell card rules.

Noticing the lax atmosphere, Meiling pitched in. "Lunaire-sama, you tell your sister. It is not good to abuse her co-workers."

Most people who saw Lunaire and Sakuya side-by-side would believe if told they were siblings. They shared lustrous silver hair and bright blueish eyes. Lunaire's pair had violet tint mixed in and appeared prismatic from his magic, the resemblance was still uncanny. Their temperament set them apart, so the mistakes were resolved very quickly when they introduced themselves. Still, the thought persisted somewhat within their close circle of friends.

Those in frequent contact knew they had the same habit of carrying around a silver pocket watch. Lunaire was also one of the people who could get around Sakuya's taciturn demeanor though, mostly because of years they knew each other in the mansion. For these and many other reasons, the two were subjected to speculation that they may be related in some way. As far as their knowledge went, this was not the case. Lunaire recalled no one like Sakuya in his family tree even after tracing back a few centuries, while the maid denied associating with Meister family in any way. Though, that did not stop people from occasionally mentioning their uncanny similarity, especially to tease one of them.

Of course, Lunaire merely watched on as Sakuya pressed Meiling for an answer. To the maid credit, she never physically wrenched whatever hidden behind the other's back.

"I was just hungry okay." Meiling thrust the package in her hand forward.

At first, they thought it strange that Meiling could get her hand on anything edible. The food provision was kept securely within Sakuya's inventory space. Then, they noticed the wrappings. Sakuya did not recall packing anything of that sort. On the paper wrapping, a small emblem and writing could be seen.

Instead of the wrapping, Lunaire focused more on the half-eaten content within, two layers of bread stuffed with vegetables and patties of minced meat. He had not seen one of those in years, thus it struck him with a strange sense of nostalgia.

"I…am sorry, Meiling. Were you that hungry?"

"Hamburger?" Lunaire mused but quickly snapped to the strangely sympathetic tone from Sakuya. "Eh?"

"Eh? W-what do you mean?"

"To think that you are so hungry that you have to do this while I collect the loot."

Sakuya seemed genuinely apologetic, which made both Lunaire and Meiling eyed each other in wonderment. It was extremely rare for the maid to do something completely beyond the understanding of others. That was more of the magician's shtick.

"Hold on, Sakuya-san, what are you talking about?"

"Hmm? Are you not so hungry that you have to fill your stomach with those…disgusting food?"

"Oh," Lunaire nodded dumbly and turned to Meiling.

Sakuya was right to be concerned. As far as they knew, food made by anyone other than their resident perfect maid could stave off hunger, but the taste was utterly inedible. For anyone, whose palate was spoiled by Sakuya's cooking, to consider eating such a thing demonstrated the height of desperation. Lunaire was astounded at how hungry Meiling was and thought she could be suffering from a weird illness.

"Oh no! This is pretty good." Meiling shook her head strongly. "Here, try. It is a bit cold from the blizzard, but it is far cry from that soggy rice cracker."

Lunaire stared blankly at the offered hamburger. He looked up to the expectant face of Meiling and tore out a piece that she did not bite into. Sakuya slowly followed suit.

"I saw this being sold in the market this morning. Rather than the Landers, it was the Adventurers selling this, so I got curious." Meiling pulled back her food. "It smells good, unlike everything else. It did not cost much, so I thought might as well."

Lunaire chewed on the hamburger. The expected taste of soggy rice crackers did not come. Rather, he tasted fat, meat, and a little bit of sourness from the tomato. It was not particularly good though. The blizzard stole the last the heat away, resulting in a bland and rubbery texture. Still, it tastes undoubtedly like a hamburger.

"It's bad."

"…" Sakuya refrained to comment.

"Still, it tastes life proper food." Lunaire licked his lips. "Where did you get this? You said the Adventurers were selling it? Earlier today, yes?"

"Yes, Lunaire-sama."

"Most intriguing," Lunaire hummed.

Sakuya leaned toward the magician. "Is this not problematic, Lunaire-sama? If someone discovered the secret of cooking, then…"

"Not necessary, Sakuya. While it is unfortunate that we are no longer the only ones who can make tasty food, we can certainly settle for one of the only two. We cannot satisfy the entire city of Akihabara anyway. Also, the other party will most likely try to keep the lid on the secret. Unless other people discover them independently, we do not need to worry about having even more competition" Lunaire shrugged.

"That sounds quite reasonable. Though we better hurry and make our move. After people learn that cooking good food is possible, many will direct more effort into discovering how."

"Um, we will have to look into this…I suppose we might have to suspend further hunting trip for the time being." Lunaire mumbled but then turned to Meiling. "Anyway Meiling, are you out here just to eat?"

"Well…I do not to be the only one eating."

Understandable, Lunaire thought. It was a little awkward to be the only one eating among hungry people. With a little sigh, he ushered the two ladies toward the camp. He was getting sick and tired of this atrocious northern climate.

00000

And there is it.

You might be wondering why I am leveling up the Touhou cast quickly. This is from two considerations. The in-universe explanation is that the Touhou casts want to quickly regain their power. They are treating hunting sessions like a full-time job. Without shying away from combat or trying to slack off, they are putting in the effort.

As for the out-universe explanation, Log Horizon is always more about the politics. In a way, the combat is the less interesting aspect of the show and the book. The Scarlets will need to at least have the level high enough to command respect. Of course, I did not push them to level 90 or 100 because I still want to see if being slightly weaker than other leading members of the Round Table will ever go anywhere. Secondly, since a little under half of the Eldertale player base is at level cap, it gave me an impression that being level 90 is not all that impressive.

As for the tea…East India…I mean Far East (Scarlet) Trading Company…Thalassocracy intensifies.

As always do leave a review if you have comment, suggestion or just word of encouragement. It goes a long way.

I just made a new discord server in case you want to leave some question over there. It is much easier to deal with than the reply review format in Fanfiction.

Discord invite code: nSMHjar


	7. Chapter 7: Round Table Council 2

Hello, ITalkToSky here.

I managed to get this chapter out a lot faster than I expected with the leftover part I cannibalized from the previous chapter. Do not expect this to be the norm.

Here comes the long-awaited chapter about the Round Table Council conference. I hope you guys enjoy the surprise I have in this chapter.

Enjoy!

Discord invite code: nSMHjar

00000

_**Guild Hall, Akihabara, a few days afterward**_

Far from the hustle bustle of the city, there exists a conference room that could be considered one-of-a-kind. Tall domed ceiling converged onto a large skylight, providing ample lighting for the spacious space below. Lining the wall supporting the high ceilings were the status of women, whose solemn faces inspired strange sense of respect and awe. In the middle of it all was a table, surrounding by ornate chairs. This opulent meeting room was available to anyone owning a guild hall. Though its location on the sixteenth floor made it quite an unpopular spot to host a conference.

Yet, that place hosted the largest congregation of guildmasters representing the majority of Akiba since the Catastrophe.

Black Sword Knights' Grand Commander Isaac

Honesty's Guildmaster Eins

D.D.D's Chief 'Berserker' Krusty

Silver Sword's young leader William

West Wind Brigade's harem style Guildmaster Soujirou

Oceanic Systems' 'Strong Armed' Michitaka

The Rodrick Firm's Guildmaster Rodrick

Shopping District 8's young boss Charasin.

Crescent Moon Alliance's Marielle

Grandeur's Alchemist Woodstock

Radio Market's expert mechanic Akaneya

Shiroe of Log Horizon

And finally, Scarlet Devil Mansion's representative, Lunaire Vivian Meister

His presence raised eyebrows among some. It was widely known that the none of the recognized faces of the Scarlet Devil Mansion like Lunaire, Reisen and many others was the guildmaster. After all their high profile move, not a single soul even knew the name of their elusive leader. Of course, this was not for the lack of trying. In this meeting comprised of the most powerful and influential guildmaster in Akihabara, only the Scarlets showed up with a representative. Fortunately, most had no complaint, while those that did preferred to keep it to themselves. They had bigger mystery to uncover in the meeting.

The agenda of the conference was as vague as it was heavy, the future of Akihabara. Details were mostly omitted, leaving on the fact that it was jointly hosted by Log Horizon's Shiroe and Crescent Moon Alliance's Marielle.

A few aides stood behind each of the thirteen leaders. Ten-odd players on the outer rings stared at each other with mixed expression. Some seemed absentminded, while other were surprised. Only a selected few maintained their poker face. Rarer still were those radiating confidence and control. This was a given since the invitation arrived rather abruptly, merely the night before.

The attendees divided roughly into three groups. Oceanic systems, The Rodrick Firm and 8th District Shopping Center comprised the big three production guilds, accounting for majority of manufactured goods in the city. While it is unfair to overstate their contribution, they played a vital role in keeping the economic system in Akihabara together after the Catastrophe. Without them, the massive influx of production-class Adventurers would drain resources right out of the city and replace them with junk, low-level goods.

Black Sword Knights and D.D.D. were the most successful battle-oriented guilds, whose measures after the disaster differed like night and day. One chose to focus on quality, doubling down on the restricted recruitment policy that accepted on the highest-level players. On the other hands, D.D.D. swelled their ranks by absorbing smaller guilds to expand their capability. The other battle-oriented guilds like Honesty, Silver Sword and West Wind Brigade, although individually outshone by the behemoths, represented a not ignorable portion of the fighting power in Akiba.

Crescent Moon Alliance, Grandeur and Radio Market were the leading guilds behind the failed attempt at forming smaller guild coalition. Their leaders and to certain extent their guilds boast different sort of reputation, but there were not no-names by any stretch.

As for the Scarlet Devil Mansion, they quickly grew their reputation from a nobody to a respected guild shrouded in mystery. Their guildmaster, their membership size and the capability remained unknown. Any attempt to investigate the matter yield complicated result. The guild had many low-level members, suggesting that they were a newfound newbie guild, but their deep pocket and impressive manufacturing capability put many smaller production guilds to shame. One would then be tempted to concluded that their focus was on crafting, yet their members were often seen venturing outside of Akiba and returning with high-level monster materials.

More famous than their complicated status however was their unique system of procurement that offered opportunity to lower-level players while also appealing to the interest of more dominant guild. Since its initial inception however, this not only expanded in size but also evolved. Over the past month, they also issued quests on behalf of the Landers along with their own. This was revolutionary in their own way. The Landers who depended on the Adventurers' help gained a method to reliably seek their service and flocked to the Scarlets. To that end, some people started calling the new procurement office an Adventurer Association and dubbed Koakuma as the first receptionist girl.

Finally, was the Log Horizon, a totally unknown guild. Yet, merely the infamy of Shiroe, its guildmaster, more than qualify their presence in this conference room. Only few had never heard about this man or his exploit within the Debauchery Tea Party.

As probing stares were exchanged between each participant, Crescent Moon Alliance's Serara came by and served cold fruit tea to everyone. This beverage had not been sold in Crescent Moon stall yet, surprising the participant with its unusual taste.

When Serara came around to Lunaire, he nodded at the timid girl. He waited for her to pass him before taking a brief sip, finding the new taste quite novel even if he was not too fond of it. The magician quickly focused the attention elsewhere however, observing every little hint from the apparent mastermind of this event.

"Shiroe-chi? Are you fine nya?" Lunaire heard the barest whisper from the cat man assistant to the Log Horizon's guildmaster.

Shiroe nodded, feeling touch from the concern. Then, his expression steeled like a man stepping onto the battlefield. Fueled by his intent, he stood up with the light in his eyes.

"Thank you everyone for making time from your busy schedules, I am very grateful. My name is Shiroe from Log Horizon…I invited all of you here to discuss an agenda. The content is complicated, and I will need to spend some time on this, so please be patient."

Shiroe paused momentarily, scanning around the room.

"Keep your speech short, 'Debauchery's' Shiroe, it's not like we don't know each other," Isaac interrupted. This meathead was as Reisen described, boorish but refreshingly straightforward.

"What is the purpose of this meeting?"

The youthful elf brimming impatience was William Massachusetts, leader of Silver Sword. He kept crossing his legs alternatively, eager for any opportunity to just up and leave.

"Since someone wants to speed it up, let us go directly into the main topic. Should I say question or proposal? I want to discuss the current situation in Akiba. As everyone knows, we are stuck in this alternate world since the Catastrophe with no way to log out, and no clue on what to do. This is something we must live with. On the other hand, the atmosphere in Akiba is deteriorating. A lot of our friends are losing their drive and even giving up on life entirely. The economy is poor and exploration efficiency is not improving. I want to settle this situation."

"And we are here to do what?"

"So troublesome…"

"Why do we need to discuss this sort of thing?"

"I understand what you mean, but what can we do?"

Honesty Guildmaster Eins asked, "something like the small guild alliance?"

"Sort of, but I heard that the plan was a failure," Shiroe replied as he swept his gaze toward the initial ones pushing the plan. Akaneya and Woodstock all nodded glumly. Whether in term of members or resources at their disposal, Grandeur, Radio Market and even Crescent Moon Alliance hardly qualified to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the behemoths here.

Representing all of them, Marielle explained nervously. "That plan has been dissolved. We tried to tackle too much. The plan was trying to unit small guilds to compete with larger ones, protecting our common interest. That was where the problem lied."

"Yes, but we only agreed to cooperate on the surface and ended up pursuing our own agendas in the end. There is no way such union can last." Akaneya chipped in on Marielle's explanation.

"So, you want tray again to gather all the…or at least the guilds that can represent Akiba here to readjust our relation in the city?"

"…small guilds cannot ally together, even more so if they affect the power balance of the major guilds. This is madness?"

Lunaire curled his lips into a cynical smile. Of course, the larger guild would prefer the status quo and reacted defensively when the smaller players looked to band together. This was probably the biggest obstacle in their plan to bring order to this city.

Back to the topic at hand though, Lunaire wondered which approach was Crescent Moon Alliance aiming for this time. It could not have been that Marielle intended to unite the larger guilds instead of the smaller ones. She did not appear senseless enough to expect anything to work with these behemoths when she failed at a much smaller scale.

Perhaps Marielle intended to make a touching petition, appealing to the sense of community and conscious. He doubted even Buddha himself could make these people listen, at least not at this stage. Without showing explicitly the common benefits of cooperation, they would not see reason.

"If that is the case, please allow us to leave first." William, the one most unhappy and impatiently crossing his legs all this while, stood up. He adjusted his dagger on his waist and put on his cape. His intention could not have been clearer. "We are a battle guild. The atmosphere in Akiba has nothing to do with us. In other words, we are fine with the city being in chaos or in harmony. The affairs of the city should be left to those who are interested. It is probably a waste of time, but we do not think this is a bad thing. We are simply not keen to take part, so count us out."

A boorish meathead through and through with even less maturity than Isaac, Lunaire shook his head. Even as a purely battle guild, they still relied on the infrastructure of the city to operate at maximum efficiency. Their needed services of bank, blacksmiths, and apothecaries. If the town became a cesspool, access to these necessities would become more complicated. Still, William chose to leave without much tantrum, so their discussion took neither a step back nor forward.

Alice, assigned as aids to Lunaire, watched as the faces of Grandeur's, Radio Market's and Crescent Moon Alliance's leaders soured. Just like before, the situation started slipping from their grasp.

However, Lunaire chose not to allow Silver Sword to simply walk away. Akiba needed all the fighting capability it could get. Having one major combat guild completely out of touch with the reality around them was unwise. Even if Lunaire already felt the encroaching headache, he put out a few words.

"You already took the time to come here. Wasting a few more moments here won't hurt, will it?" Lunaire spoke up condescendingly. He did not know whether the soul behind Willian was just young or a man-child. Regardless, he predicted that some a goading tone could provoke a response. "It is not like you can do anything productive with a few minutes not attending this meeting. Unless, you have a raid coming up in the next hour, hmm, William?"

"You…"

"If not, I do suggest that you sit down. You do not have to say anything and can just treat it like watching a show. Get out some popcorn. There is no harm in watching people squabble as a trashy fun." Lunaire let some amusement creep into his tone, hoping to pacify William. Pushing him to far could result in him just barging out from sheer spite.

"…Fine." William threw his hands in the air. "I don't have anything better to do anyway. But I am leaving after half an hour."

"Fine with me. We can go out together and grab something to eat if nothing production happens. I value my time quite highly as well." Lunaire only got a huff as a response.

"Thank you for your consideration." Shiroe's surprise was evident. The Scarlet Devil Mansion convincing the less cooperative members to stay was not in the calculation. After nodding appreciatively at the magician, he soldiered on. "As Silver Sword's guildmaster mentioned, the reason for inviting all of you was to form an organization known as the 'Round Table Alliance' to discuss the operation of Akiba as a city. There are two major goals. The first is improving the atmosphere of Akiba, to guide the citizens to revive their vigor. The next is the improvement in security. I hope the organization can operate with these two goals in mind and slowly become the tool that can solve the problems in the function of the city."

A blanket of silence enveloped the room. Each participant opted to probe each other for any reaction.

The Scarlets face remained unreadable as their minds churned. Forming governing body to administer the city was the long-term solution their guild aimed for. Yet, there were many prerequisites that need to be met to establish any form of central authority over such a large group of people. The situation was simply not ripe, so this meeting would achieve little. Lunaire expected himself to follow William out as promised.

"Before that, can you explain the criteria of choosing the members?"

"I understand. Firstly, Black Sword Knights, Honesty, Silver Sword, D.D.D, and West Wind Brigade are either major battle guilds or successful ones. Oceanic Systems, The Rodrick Firm, and 8th District Shopping Center represent the big productions guilds. Scarlet Devil Mansion…their contributions to this city and the rapport they built up with the lower-level players cannot be ignored. Crescent Moon Alliance, Grandeur and Radio Market represent the small guilds. These are the reasons why I chose everyone here to participate. But this is something I do not want you all to misunderstand. The last four are representing not just themselves, but also all the small guilds that do not have the chance to participate. They are here to reflect the views of all these guilds and people. Even the smallest guild should have a chance to express their views. If we succeed in forming the organization, I hope these 4 guilds will uphold this standpoint."

Lunaire stared at Shiroe briefly. Shiroe just unilaterally handed the responsibility of being the voice of common people to them. Lunaire assumed that Crescent Moon Alliance and other folks were in his clique, but he should not have expected Scarlet Devil Mansion to follow his vision.

"What about you?" D.D.D.'s Krusty asked.

"I am taking part as the organizer."

"Um…in other words, you organized this meeting and sent out the invitation to qualify for this discussion?"

Shiroe fired back confidently, "that is correct."

"Assuming we create organization, how are we going to maintain security? No, firstly, what do you mean by the deteriorating security?" Isaac asked, visibly tensing Shiroe up.

"Some guilds have confined beginners in the name of protection. This is a common knowledge, correct? This is not a healthy situation."

"…Is it regarding EXP Pot? But that is not illegal, correct?"

This topic struck a nerve. Half the participants reacted as if they expected this to come up. If asked to defend their actions, they would all guiltily cited that they breached no law.

Lunaire and Alice quietly shook their head in unison. In their opinions, there was nothing wrong with the rate in which one accumulate experience point. They would even go as far as the power gain in this world was simply unnatural. With good effort, one could easily reach the highest level within a year. To see so many people resorting to slavery just to make the process even a little bit faster utterly disgusted them. Lunaire started having second thought about entrusting any sort of responsibility to these people.

"Players do not have any laws to follow. Breaking non-existing laws is just an excuse. I hope everyone here understands this point." Shiroe replied to Isaac, whose face blackened from the blatant stab. "This is not limited to just the EXP Pot incident. The problem is that the players have no legal guidelines to refer to, so we can do as we wish in this world. Is that so? But even so, to us, it is not about the legality. The abhorrent thing is that we don't feel guilt over this."

Isaac chuckled coldly. "You are being illogical. Law does exist. If players fight in a non-combat zone, they will be killed as punishment."

"That is merely natural phenomenon, the way this world operated. We did not agree to this and we did not set the standard. It is wrong to consider that a legal system." Shiroe shook his head firmly. "For example, when I went to Susukino, there is a guild Brigandia abducting young NPCs and selling them to players as slaves."

The participants all shared a look of shock. Only Lunaire and Alice watched on unperturbed and noticed a quick glance from Shiroe, perhaps wondering why his news garnered no reaction at all from them.

"Based on your concept, this is not illegal because the guards did not attack them. But that is not what the law is about. This action can be done in this world, but that does not mean it should be allowed. The legal system is based on the question of 'is this acceptable to us?'"

People began thinking. One group leaned toward Shiroe's assertion and thought there needed to be some ground rules to prevent something abhorrent from happening like in Susukino. The other thought that there was no way they could come to a consensus.

"Assuming an influential group appearing in Akiba who does not agree with the existence of this organization, what should be done? In other word, there may be others who oppose the consensus of this alliance." Krusty looked down slightly, concealing his eyes behind the reflection of his glasses.

"That is to fight, basically chase them out of Akiba. Even if they sneak in, it will be hard to perform any activities. We can also consider forcing their guild to disband."

In the world without true death, many deterrent methods of the previous world held little meaning. Capital punishment would merely deduct some experience point and equipment durability. Violent expulsion from the city could not be feasibly enforced with the Royal Guard interference. Arrest meant little as one could commit suicide to respawn elsewhere. All the typical enforcement sticks available on Earth no longer applied in this strange world of Theldesia.

Although, in the unlikely scenario where all participants agreed to a consensus, they may be an enforcement method available. By guarding all entrances and asking production guilds to refuse trading with criminals, they could give teeth to the alliance. However, it would cost exorbitant amount of resources and manpower, lowering the efficiency overall.

"But you will need the help of battle guilds like us to achieve this, yes?" Isaac grinned like a predator eyeing his prey. "In the end, if it is 10 or 20 people, we can perform this type of punishment. But assuming if one of the major guilds here opposes the edicts of the council and announce that the law can go and eat shit…that will be war then? Even if the organization is formed, there is no guarantee every issue will be settled smoothly. I want to know if there is a way to integrate all our views. If someone objects and cause a war, won't this meeting be pointless?"

Isaac's veiled threat summed up Lunaire's misgiving about this meeting. If a large guild, say Black Sword Knights, revolted, it would be impossible to suppress them. Since they would nominally be part of the enforcement arm themselves, it would be like a civil war. Worst yet, the fighting would not have a natural ending of one side defeating the other. It could go on until one side decided they had enough, wasting precious resources better spent elsewhere. Other measures like economic sanctions proved to be ineffective against a guild beyond a certain size. As the members increased, they were bound to have some production subclass and become self-sufficient to an extent.

Yet, Lunaire remained in his seat, sensing something is afoot. Everything said thus far was the obvious. If anyone sat in these seats without accepting these underlying conditions, they were fools. Therefore, there was a reason for Shiroe to send out the invitation despite this.

"Your proposal can only be described as impractical, yes?" Krusty asked in pleasant tone that matched his chiseled handsome face. It was hard to resolve the mismatch of his impression and his title as a berserker. "I think there is merit to forming this organization but…if it will be hollow like this, I don't think it can enforce the laws it created."

Shiroe raised his hand.

"Today…about 4 hours ago, I purchase the guild building zone. I have the authority to change the settings of the zone, including who can enter the zone. In simple terms, I can blacklist anyone and ban them from using the guild building. This means they cannot use their guild hall, the bank and the warehouse."

Everyone one in the venue froze. At the same time, something clicked inside both Lunaire and Alice head. This was the final piece of the puzzle that they needed, in more ways than one.

"I have the authority to change the settings of the zone, including who can enter the zone…In simplest terms, I can blacklist anyone and ban them from using the guild building. This means they cannot use their guild hall, the bank, and the warehouse."

Everyone had the expressions as if they were choking on something as they stared at Shiroe. Only Henrietta let out a sigh. In this spacious meeting room, only she seemed to have seen through Shiroe's intent. The man himself could only let out a sheepish smile momentarily.

"See, it's so black that it shines."

Henrietta seemed to say with a tone of both sympathy and resignation. Marielle nodded strongly in agreement. Shiroe's word sounded the death knell for all opposition. Henrietta would have call it a job well done if she did not notice the calculative look from the silver-haired magician and his aid.

Lunaire was not dull enough to miss the implication of Shiroe's words. This was a blatant blackmail. Anyone who defied this man would essentially lose the privilege to the centerpiece of the town. While Scarlet Devil Mansion never used the service of the Guild Building, except for that one time to register their guild, Lunaire understood that it was something that most adventurers could not do without. Shiroe's feat was nothing less than impressive. In such a short time, he found a tool to bring an entire city under his chokehold.

At the same time however, it served to make whoever at Minami even more impressive. They figured out this method to unify the city way and implemented it much earlier after falling into a completely bizarre situation.

Back to the moment, Lunaire could never allow himself and his friends to be held under the authority of one man from who knew where. Although Shiroe championed the cause to establish order in Akihabara, he could be just another power-hungry dictator or a clever devil like the mastermind behind Plant Hwyaden.

This check could not be allowed to turn into a checkmate. And thus, Lunaire closed his eyes and send out a focused burst of mana, tracing back the same line he used to broadcast the meeting to his friend.

"Did all of you hear that?"

"No need to say it. This is dangerous," replied a childish voice characteristic of Remilia.

Unlike the message function commonly used by the adventurer, Lunaire relied on mana-based telepathy spell. This came with one undeniable advantage. The conversation needed not be out loud. With proper practice, the entire exchange could occur in the safe confine of their minds. There was the risk of interception, but it was surely better than blurting out his plan in the middle of a conference.

"Do any of you know the procedure to buy a zone?" Lunaire continued hurriedly, hoping that his tone conveyed the urgency of the situation. "No matter, I am sure you can figure it out. Please take every single penny out of our vault if you must. Buy out the Cathedral."

"This will be painful on our finance, but I concur."

"We cannot know of his true intention. There is no other option but to force a stalemate."

"That is dirty!"

"You are threatening us!"

The announcement that Shiroe 'owns this guild building' had the same effect as an explosion. The only ones who did not feel the blow were Shiroe himself, Nyanta behind him, the Crescent Moon Alliance members, and Soujirou of West Wind Brigade. The last did not know the actual plan but had somehow sensed the situation from his experience with the famed tactician.

The guild building was one of the main facilities of Akiba. Its main functions included the forming, joining, withdrawing from guilds, as well as dissemination of special events for high-level guilds. As the name suggested, it was crucial for any matter involving guilds.

In addition, the guild building lobby in Akiba also housed the bank counters, an important facility where one could deposit money and rent warehouse space to store items. This function was important because of the death penalty in Eldertale. Dying in the game would deduct some experience point, damage equipment and most importantly randomly drop the items stored within the inventory. The bank was necessary to help preserve the hard-earned wealth of the Players. When they needed to spend it on expensive items, they could pay a processing fee to remit the money.

For Elder Tales players, the bank was something you used every day, an important and convenient facility. Akiba's only bank counter was in the guild building's lobby. Shiroe controlled its access. This had major implications.

There were banks in every city, and the accounts were linked. Be it cash or items, you could process the withdrawal from any bank. For instance, you could deposit cash in Akiba and withdraw it from Hannan. But with the intercity transport gates down, it was risky to travel to a city so far away. Shiroe's group traveled to Susukino before, but that was a rare case. After the Catastrophe, players who traveled to another city from his starting city were probably less than 0.1%. Taking the current situation into account, Shiroe now had the power to freeze the bank accounts.

"Freezing bank accounts? What else can you call it but intimidation?" The small guild Grandeur's guild master Woodstock said in a trembling voice.

"I am only responding to Isaac-san's question, which was 'Even if the council is formed, depending on the agenda, the big guilds might object and incite a war'. My answer is there will be no war, because the one starting it will lose all access to Akiba's guild building."

"Isn't that still a threat..."

Shiroe replied to his relentless questions.

"If you want to say that this is intimidation, then if a big guild like Isaac's uses the tactic 'if you propose anything that is detrimental to me, I will start a war', it will also be intimidation, correct? What is the difference between these two? I am only proposing 'setting up a council to discuss official business' and did not ignore any criticism. Please consider which request is more reasonable."

Then came a soft giggle. Slowly, it grew into something like an amused chuckle. Before long, the attention of all attendants was captured by the laughter with undisguised mockery. They all looked to the source of it all, a charming silver-haired magician.

"So, you do admit that it is still an intimidation, yes? Something on the same level as the threat thrown out by Isaac-san, just that yours is way more potent than anything someone else in this city can muster." Lunaire smiled refreshing, but his eyes showed a predatory glint. "Oh, and where were you again. Right, you were trying to set up an organization that will oversee the common good of the city…based on coercion and intimidation? A bit ironic, don't you think?"

With the whole venue completely silent, the people drank in his word. Shiroe showed slight sign of panic and raised his hand to object. "Regardless of how it is formed, the goal is as I stated initially in this meeting. To revitalize the city and create legal framework…"

"Ah, yes, you said that. But since when can we trust something so critical to the word of mouth? Since when can a man's word be a guarantee for his true intention? Since when is it a good idea to entrust our fate wholly to the man whose character cannot be known?" Lunaire scanned through the crowd. Although no one nodded, he could see the message sinking in. From the darkening expression from Shiroe and the Crescent Moon Alliance, they knew it too. "No, in fact, we can already see part of his true character. For a man saying that he has lofty ideal on how the society should be run, he sure has no reservation about using power to demand obedience."

"That is not…"

"You!" Lunaire stressed. "You said it yourself in regarding to the system that prevent fighting in the safe zone. To quote 'we did not agree to this and we did not set the standard. It is wrong to consider that a legal system.' If we, the Scarlets, D.D.D. and Black Sword Knights did not consent to it, whatever system you have for us will merely be like a game mechanic handed down to us. Your system will merely be a natural phenomenon in which we have to suffer wordlessly."

Although Lunaire had to twist the word slightly, he managed to turn Shiroe's own word against him, much to Isaac chagrin. On the side, Krusty watched the entire exchanged with raptured attention. He knew this would be both intriguing and entertaining in equal measure.

"Look, Shiroe-san, is it? I do not know you. I will even go as far as to say that most people here do not know you. They know you as the Shiroe, the genius strategist of Debauchery Tea Party, but they do not know your true self. They do not know the motivation that drives you. And you just came along expecting us to place our trust in you. To entrust what is essentially unlimited power to you?"

"No," Shiroe had enough of the interruption and seized the opportunity to answer. "It will not be an organization led by one man. This will be a council to discuss the matter of the city and find solution that will be acceptable to all."

"But the one holding the executive power will be you, Shiroe. You, the owner of the guild building, alone hold the final say in all matter deliberated by the council. Is it not like the Tsar Nicholas the second and his Duma? The council can discuss all they want. If they ran counter to the direction you wish, you can use your power–the very same you are using now–to force our compliance. You may promise not to abuse power, but can I truly trust someone who abused his power once not to do it again?"

Isaac and William nodded strongly. Somewhere along the line, the latter started getting invested in the drama and was listening intently. Lunaire made sure to remember this and tease him about it later.

"Let us give you the benefit of the doubt that you are truly intending the best for this city with no ulterior intention at all." Lunaire sighed deeply in his seat when he saw the spark of hope in Marielle eyes, the most upbeat person present. "I still believe that this is the wrong way to go about it. I am a realist to a degree. Sometimes, the ends justify the means. On a matter so crucial, drastic measures must be taken. However, not this, not on something so critical, so fundamental…the very foundation of a government. Whatever system that arises from threat and coercion has already started on the wrong foot. It will be sending the wrong message that authority can be derived from the will of a single man. What if a lunatic came upon the same magnitude of power that you had and decided that a totalitarian system of governance is the way forward? What then? It might just be that we are lucky that this time, the man who stumbled upon such power is you. But I cannot expect you to be the last to ever do so."

The silence fell on the venue. The more impulsive men like Isaac and William had something to ponder. The talk about ideal appealed to their hot-bloodedness even if the finer nuance completely missed them. The more ponderous sort like Akaneya and Woodstock closed their eyes and nodded slightly. The leader of the largest guild showed no strong reaction however, content to observe the situation a little while longer.

Lunaire observed the reaction Shiroe's little clique. Marielle, who wore her heart on her sleeve, looked down and sank into her seat. Henrietta, her aid, stared at the magician with wide eyes, seemingly surprise that he pulled out an ace out of no way. She knew that the tide began to turn against Shiroe. After having his highhandedness highlighted so thoroughly, pushing through with his power would have their compliance but not their acceptance. On the side note, Lunaire found it difficult to read the expression of a humanoid cat behind Shiroe.

"Frankly, I am not against establishing the council. As you said, we need a way to limit ourselves, so that we do not lose ourselves to the uglier side of Humanity. However, it must be created on the spirit of cooperation and understanding, not coercion and threat. The council should come into existence because we, the people, want them to exist, not because someone grabbed us by the horn. It should be a proof that we can see the potential of our community…that we understand we are in this…together."

Lunaire clenched his fist to add emphasis as he scanned through all the attendee.

"It is truly…unfortunate, Shiroe-san. You have opened a Pandora Box. The prospect that the council can be found upon mutual understanding is no longer possible. You have already tainted this place with the knowledge of this overwhelming weapon. While not quite analogous, it can be said that you just unveiled the first atomic bomb." Lunaire eyed Shiroe sharply. The severity of his words cut deep. "You can no longer put it down and pretend that it does not exist, lest someone unsavory uses it against all of us."

These words struck Shiroe hard, causing him to stagger back a step. In his effort to find the quick solution, he lost sight of the whole picture. The goal would be reached, but the implication was certainly not pretty. Still, it was as Lunaire said. Shiroe had no choice but to soldiered on. There could be no stop midway.

"Therefore, it is regrettable. I will do what must be done. Because of you, we can no longer aim for the most ideal outcome…but we can settle for the second best." Lunaire opened his interface in the view of everyone present and navigated to the messaging function. "We have come hoping for the best yet prepared for the worse. Reisen, please, do it."

Of course, Lunaire could not have predicted that move from Shiroe. They were simply not well-versed with the game-like mechanic of the world. However, it sure made for a good showmanship.

After a long moment of silence, Isaac asked curiously. "What are you doing?"

Rather than asking his question directly, Lunaire spoke firmly. "Ah…this truly demonstrates the human folly. No one can sit still if only one among them hold the weapon of mass destruction. To eliminate the vast power disparity…Today…1 minute ago, a member of my guild purchased the Cathedral zone. We now hold the authority to modify the access setting, locking any players who respawned there from ever exiting."

For the second time of the day, a giant bombshell was dropped upon the venue. At this point, the jaws of everyone in the room hit the floor. This time, rather than a commotion, the solemn expression on Lunaire's face prevented the commotion from breaking out. The silver-haired magician stood up from his chair, which vanished promptly.

"Then, Shiroe-san, stop talking down to us from above. Let us speak on equal ground." Lunaire state, stamping down on the cold marble floor.

Everyone in the room knew. With access to either guild building or the Cathedral, life in Akiba was utterly impossible. When both side barred access to such critical infrastructure, the city would die. If both sides wished the best for the city, they had only one option, which was to talk.

"Since both of us hold executive power, we will be each other's checks and balance. Although not ideal, it will prevent one party from ever completely dominating the organization that will spring up from this meeting." Lunaire straighten up his posture and declared solemnly. "I believe that everyone will find this more acceptable. With the executive power of the council derived from two parties, we can ensure that tyranny will never take hold of Akiba."

With his final remark said, the silence reign supreme.

Then, they heard a clap. Lunaire turned to the source and saw the man in blue army clapping slowly while smiling softly. The magician could not help and tensed up slightly. Such smile was the one he usually associated with a schemer.

"Bravo…bravo, that is a good show of both your spirit and foresight. Very impressive."

"…Thank you."

"However, we have yet to hear your vision regarding the formation of this council. Shiroe has already stated his goal to revitalize the city and establish a legal framework to regulate our actions. What is it that you want to do?"

With a single question, Lunaire became the focus of the stares from an entire room once again. His parched mouth swallowed his nonexistent saliva. All this politicking started to take its toll. Unfortunately for him, this was hardly the end. There was still a long way to get. Taking a deep breath, Lunaire mustered his answer.

"The goals we have for…is the name Round Table Council finalized?" Lunaire smiled wryly even if no one laughed. "The goals are the same with Shiroe's proposal. The organization should serve as a platform to regulate our action and resolve the problems that crop up in the city."

This gathered more than little peeved looks from a few people, who thought that there was little need to go through the song and dance if Lunaire was going to agree with the proposal in the first place. Some even thought he was quite egoistical to be so averse to swallowing a loss.

"But I propose that we go even further…I propose that we expand the scope of activity for our organization…I propose…that we form a nation."

After Lunaire uttered that word, another bombshell dropped on the unexpecting attendees. And it exploded with a thunderous boom. The magician only shook his head wryly from their reaction.

"Please, order, order!" Lunaire waited until the dissenting voices died down. "You might find my wording shocking, but I assure you that it is deliberate. Rather than mincing my words, I prefer to describe something as it is. What my guild and I want from the creation of this organization is not merely a means to regulate ourselves. We wish that it can also provide security and direction for this city. After much thought, only the establishment of nation-like entity can all our desires be met."

"Safety? Safety from what?" Isaac asked, alarmed.

"That is a good question." Lunaire paused briefly. "Earlier, Shiroe pointed out the worrying development in Susukino from his personal recollection. For many of you, it is the first-time hearing about such tragedy. Yet, our guild has known about this matter for many weeks already."

"What? You knew? But why did you not tell anyone about it?" Shiroe asked.

"Will that make any difference? Everyone here should know that we are not in the position to intervene. With our city divided, are we in a position to bring peace to another many thousand kilometers to the north?"

"How did you know of it though? Did you travel to the city as well?"

"No, we merely listened. The Landers that most of you people ignored are excellent sources of information on the various events occurring on Yamato. Various merchants who managed to escape the grubby hand of the Brigandia are quite emotional and eager to spread the words of the Adventurers' barbarism that took away their wealth or worst yet, their daughters. While their testimonies are exaggerated and somewhat inaccurate, we have a rough grasp on the situation." Lunaire sat back down on the chair that materialized to catch him. "This leads to the next issue that we have. That is not the only worrying development that trickle down the grapevine."

These people seemed quite weak to surprise bombshells. Lunaire wondered what they would say if there was a lot more where that came from. Oh, so much more. No one in his guild expected the opportunity to disclose their alarming findings would be this close…

* * *

_**Maihama Firm Akiba Branch, a day earlier**_

Albert thought something was wrong the moment he stepped into the room. Normally, this client of his wore an affable persona and usually greeted him with a quip or two the moment he walked in, but not this time. No, he felt an indescribable dread building up within him. At that point, Albert felt tempted to simply walk out and pretend he did not hear about the appointment, but alas, that would not do. Mustering his courage, Albert said his greeting. The client sat unmoved on the couch with his back still turned to him. This time, he was accompanied by a maid, another known member of Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Every step Albert took got heavier. When he finally sat down on the opposite side, the unease became unbearable. Lunaire seemed to be sleeping. His eyes were closed and his breathing even. However, the threatening air enveloped him like a blanket. From behind him, the maid also sent him a pointed stare.

"Albert, I am going to you one chance and one chance only. Do you have anything you should have told me?"

Those strange pairs of eyes snapped open, revealing the striking signature prismatic purplish-blue color. It was that look of apathy, which the merchant came to despise and fear in equal measure. With this very same expression, Lunaire coldly denied the opportunity to better the lives of others. Though this time, it was much worst. Beneath that façade of apathy was not uncaringness, but cold fury. The chilling gleam in his eyes promise untold terror and suffering, squeezing the very breath out of Albert.

"…"

Albert knew in his gut that no amount of placating gesture would deter Lunaire. This was an ultimatum. His hand clenched and unclenched repeatedly. He tried his best to meet the cold pair of eyes, but whenever he did, he felt an unknown pressure. Never had his word failed him as miserably as that day.

"Very well then…it seems that I am correct."

"Please calm…"

"From this, I have no choice but to conclude that Maihama Firm…and by extension, the Eastal League of Free Cities…is undeniably working against Akiba's interest."

"What?!"

The silver-haired magician chuckled softly. To the man on the other side, it sounded just like the mocking laughter of a devil.

"Hmm…you see Albertine…I understand. Sad as it may be, it is expected for a business to be swayed by the authority wielded by the local lords and ladies. This goes doubly so for a well-established firm since they cannot just up and leave whenever they please. When I came to you, I understand that. It is for this very reason we have let you continue to snoop around for so long."

"…" Albert opened his mouth, but no word escaped his lips.

"There is no harm in a little look." Lunaire voice carried a joking hint, but his cold eyes dared anyone to laugh. "What I do not expect however, is for a merchant to take direct action against us on behalf of your patron."

"There must be some misunderstanding somewhere…"

Lunaire wagged his finger to interrupt the man. "Albertine, Albertine, tell me…will a merchant make such a risky move on their own? Spying on their client so determinately…we have found more than thirty of your people snooping about."

"As I said, there must be a misunderstanding somewhere." Albert hardened his voice, sounding like he was offended by the accusation. "We can never do something as brazen as spying on our customer. We are just merchants. Why do you suspect us? Are we the only people you do business with? Even then, your movements these days are so high profile that everyone and their mothers probably heard about them."

Lunaire clicked his tongue as if chiding a child. "I have an exceptionally good memory and I remember the names of just about everyone who manned the desk downstairs every time I come to visit. Imagine my surprise when I see so many of those names on the zone ban list of our mansion."

Albert was a perceptive man and understood the implication. At first, he thought there was still a wriggle room. Landers commoners carried no surname and their names could only be so diverse. The name of those spies could coincidentally match his staffs…even if that happened more than a handful of times and that those people often did not stay for long in Akiba. Lunaire stated this like firmly like a confirmed fact. Albert knew that any excuse at this point would do nothing but digging a deeper hole for himself.

"No merchant will continue doing what you did after the mark clearly indicated that they know about your monkey business, yes? Therefore, it is only reasonable that Maihama Firm must not be a normal business, but the one with special agenda. To be able to mobilize the power of such a large organization, is there anyone else other than someone high up in Eastal, hmm?" Lunaire raised his hand to stop Albert from getting another word in. "Ah, we have no problem with Eastal growing a little curious, of course. We have quite a lot of interesting trinkets in our store. However, we draw a line at information warfare."

"Calling it warfare is a bit…"

A word as aggressive as warfare elicited the expected reaction from the merchant. Albert sweated bullet and did not even have the composure to wipe them up. He even missed the fact that his word was an indirect admission that he did something that could constitute the warfare.

In the strictest sense, Lunaire usage of the term was indeed correct. Information warfare was the deliberate manipulation of information to compromise the interest of said target. What Albert did for this past half a month fell solidly in this territory. He intentionally concealed such vital information to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. He excelled in this task, so much so that it was a lucky coincidence for Sakuya to even caught wind of the matter in the first place.

"Enough, I have said all I wanted to. Since you do not have answers for me, I will take my leave. Sakuya, let us go." Lunaire stood up from his couch and walked toward the exit.

"Certainly, Lunaire-sama."

"Please, please, wait!"

Albert quickly barred the exit with his body. The pair of cold eyes cut him to the bone, but he bravely stood his ground. It was so pathetic to see a hulk to be trembling merely from a stare that Lunaire could not help but smirked disdainfully.

"Move, Albert, before you exhaust the last of my civility."

"No…No, you need to understand. We have no choice."

"Just like you, we also have no choice." With a flick of his hand, a gorgeous crystal spear materialized beside him in a flash of blue. The azure flame sealed within its blade flared with his next words. "Move, Albertine, I will not say this the third time. If you wish that the hostility commences right this very moment, be my guest."

Even then, Albert did not budge. Like swallowing down a bitter bug, he strained out. "Fine. Fine! I will tell you alright. Just please, listen. We have good reason for this."

Lunaire glanced toward Sakuya briefly and said after registering a brief nod from her. "Susukino, Minami and Nakasu, talk. Now."

Albert was conflicted inwardly. Two choices warred endlessly in his head. Albertine was a loyal citizen of Maihama. When he took his office as the head of Akiba branch, realization that the so-called neutrality of Maihama Firm was merely a sham did not faze him. If this were necessary to create a stable Eastal, he would gladly do his part. Yet, this priority clashed with the directive handed down by the main headquarters, specifically from the president himself.

By any means necessary, the rumors and news of the matter that transpired in Susukino, Minami and Nakasu were to be kept secret from the Adventurers in Akiba. May Incident brought about many great upheavals. Not only did the Adventurers rebelled against their role as the silent protectors of Eight Races, they became the very force of disorder they sought to destroy. One after another, their cities fell to chaos one after another. Merely a little over a month, three of the five Adventurer Cities went right down the gutter. The places that were the source of pride and comfort for the country became the gnawing dread in the pit of their stomach. The only remaining Adventurer Cities that were operating in relatively proper manner, Shibuya and Akiba, were all located within Eastal. As the only nation left on Yamato that still maintained a solid grasp on these vital components, Maihama intended to keep it this way.

Knowledge was power. Without the knowledge that revolution was possible, they wished to maintain the status quo for the moment, buying time for the nobility to deliberate a more permanent solution. In the first place though, Albert and even the president himself thought it too optimistic that this information could be concealed for long. At most they could only delay the discovery for two of three months and that was only possible because the Adventurers did not seem too interested in the Landers' business.

Unfortunately, the Scarlet Devil Mansion somehow obtained this information far earlier than even their worst projection, compromising the entire plan. There was no hiding this matter anymore. It was too huge. If Albert stuck to the original directive and continued to resist, the relationship with the Adventurers of Akiba would be damaged beyond repair. It would defeat the purpose of the information blockage in the first place if it antagonized those they wished to have on their side.

"It all started with Susukino…Everyone ignored it at first from how outrageous it sounded. Mere days after the disturbance, the royal family of Ezzo Empire was driven out of their very own capital. Who could have believed that?" Albert leaned heavily against the door. "Then, the news of the refugees rolled in. First were the influential merchants and then the well-to-do citizens, they slowly trickled to Eastal northern territory by ships, bringing stories of the horrible barbarism that befell the city."

Both Lunaire and Sakuya listened with morbid fascination. They underestimated the hideous part of humanity. It seemed that after discovering their newfound powers, the Adventurers of the north quickly employed that against the hapless Landers, plundering their wealth. Worst yet, there were even rumors that the younger women were abducted and sold as slaves within the city.

"But I thought that no combat is allowed in the city," Sakuya asked.

"There are many ways to make a person suffer without ever touching them in the city." Albert chuckled darkly. "Without getting out of the city, how could one get food to fill their stomach? How could one live? Sure, there is food vendor, but those depended on the mercy of those band of rabbles, the Brigandia, to bring their product into the city."

Sakuya could not help but said, "how utterly vile."

"This is the least of it. Most of the rumors were much more than this, though it might just be exaggeration."

Anyone who dared defy the Brigandia, a disgrace of an Adventurer guild, would be merciless harassed in the city. No one could do business with them, lest their supply chain got shutdown too. If they took even a single step out, their vicious warrior would always be waiting, licking their blades all the while. This was in line of the rumor that Sakuya caught, but much worst. Lunaire started to believe that they got off lightly in Akiba. At least the apathetic people were not causing too much mayhem.

Still, this was not the worst of their worry. The disorganized rabble would not have the will to threaten Akiba far south of them. Rather, something threatening arose to their west.

"What about Minami? I heard that the city underwent serious restructuring."

"Restructuring is an understatement. I do not claim to know much about you people, but at least I know the Adventurers organizes themselves into guilds. Within a city, you can expect to see hundreds or even thousands of small groups. It had always been like this for more than a century. Yet, over a span of weeks, all of that vanished…In their place arose the one and only guild of Minami…Plant Hwyaden."

Lunaire almost burst out laughing. Albert, for his European sounding name, utterly butchered the Welsh words, Plant Hwyaden, meaning duck children. Also, he wondered who would name their guild so strangely. At the very least, they could pick a better one like Hwyaden Fach for duckling.

Reigning in his amusement for the more serious topic, Lunaire asked, "how could they unify those Adventurers so easily? You can see the current state of Akiba."

"I do not know. No one understands how you people think. It just happened. Also, not much information made it through anyway. Since the May Incident, much less merchants cross over from The Holy Empire Westerlande. All that I know is mostly from second or third hand accounts."

"Do you think this is a deliberate act?" Sakuya inquired. "To contain the spread of information?"

Albert glanced at Sakuya, a little surprised. For a maid, she seemed quite involved in the matter of her employers. After taking a closer look at her appearance, she closely resembled Lunaire, except her eye color. Quite done with speculation, Albert shook his head. It was not in his business to mettle. "That is the most logical explanation. Without merchants moving about, the money does not flow. For them to do that, it must be because they have something big to hide."

Lunaire smelled a great deal of foul play in this and looked to see the same thoughtful look on Sakuya's face. There was utterly no way that diverse groups could band together that easily. He could believe it if they merely joined as a coalition or an alliance. However, for the Adventurers to abandon the identity of their guild and voluntarily join another en mass, that was unbelievable.

"That is worrying…I have no doubt that everyone did not join up willingly."

Albert squeezed his temple tiredly. "Yeah, after what happened in Nakasu, it should be clear as day. Half a month after the May Incident, Plant Hwyaden suddenly appeared in the city and unilaterally declared the unification with Minami."

The accounting was conflicting. Some said it was an outside invasion. Some said it was a strike from within. Regardless, when the dust settled, two things were clear.

"What a joke!" Albert chuckled cynically. "Unification? What unification? After all the members of Kunie branch clan and their affiliated workers in Nakasu were all slew to the last"

Lunaire sucked in his breath in surprise. "Kunie clan…you mean the large family that managed the bank system in the guild hall and care for the Cathedral?"

"Yes, the people keeping Nakasu alive by providing the critical service for the Adventurers. They are all gone. Without them to operate their arcane Alv technology in the various locking mechanisms, not even a single gold could be withdrawn from Nakasu branch. Without them…the city died."

"How accurate is this information." Lunaire asked hurriedly.

"It is much more certain than the news from Minami. The Ninetail Dominion is understandably outraged by this move that deprived them of the mainline defense against the monsters. They spared no effort to spread the word of this affront heaped onto them by Plant Hwyaden. Every merchant that managed to slip through the border of Holy Empire Westerlande sang the same tale of atrocity."

Nakasu was Lunaire's worst nightmare coming to life. It was now beyond any shadow of doubt that Plant Hwyaden harbored terrible ambition and was not afraid to act upon it. If they had the gall to act against a large entity like an Adventurer City, Akiba was undoubtably a viable target.

Their situation spiraled down deeper by the minute. On a sudden notice, they suddenly found themselves with the enemy within and without. Never could they have imagined that their random curiosity about the origin of Crescent Burger would lead to such a staggering realization. Both Lunaire and Sakuya felt chilled about what could happen if they ignored that little packet in Meiling's hand and just keep on leveling up. Perhaps, by the time they reached max level, Akiba would be no more.

"Thank you for your information." Lunaire spoke grimly. "This is where we take our leave. Please excuse us."

"Wait, wait! You must understand. We have no choice but to conceal this information. We are afraid that this city will also…"

"Sakuya, if you please?"

"Of course," the maid answered succinctly and retrieved her pocket watch.

The next moment was the most mystifying experience that Albertine Gilford had ever experience. One moment, they were there. And the next, there were not.

That night, the Scarlet Devil Mansion remained lit up throughout the night. Decisions were made and plans were adjusted. Unfortunately, before they ever got to do anything substantial, a curious invitation arrived at the door of the Scarlet Devil Mansion to a certain conference.

00000

And there is it.

You never expect that now, did you?

I hope that the long flashback does not confuse you too much. The reason I set it up this way is because I do not want to reiterate the information about the events at the other Adventurers cities to the council once again in the next chapter. That is just pointless filler. Instead, it will be better to explain it in the flashback and let you imagine how the reveal to the council goes. Of course, without retelling the information you guys already know next chapter, it will free up space to add in more information on this new nation that will be born from this meeting.

Discord invite code: nSMHjar


End file.
